Saturday wonder woman Venetia Williams shows the value of living in the present

Although none of the equine elite graced Cheltenham for a two-day fixture headlined by the December Gold Cup on Saturday, a welcome gust of warmth swept down from Cleeve Hill after the feature race.

Gemirande’s triumph marked the fourth successive weekend his trainer Venetia Williams returned home with a handsome pot. In an era dominated by a handful of trainers with access to fat cheque books, it offered plenty of food for thought.

Here was the perfect advert for shelving those festival thoughts in favour of the present. In the space of 21 days Williams had won six big races and bankrolled more than £350,000 for her owners. She may not match the big guns in March but she continues to fight her corner with a fraction of their resources. The woman with a penchant for Aston Martins is a lesson for the doom merchants who complain they cannot compete.