Paul Nicholls rolls his tanks into Aintree after a chastening Cheltenham

A quick glance at Aintree’s card and you might wonder if it’s 2011 rather than 2021 such is Paul Nicholls’ clout.

One of the sport’s greatest trainers was among those humbled by the Irish onslaught in the Cotswolds, his 20 Cheltenham Festival runners failing to yield a single winner. It was doubtless a chastening experience for a man who, a decade ago, held a fair concentration of power in his own Ditcheat principality.

Roll the clock forward a few weeks, though, and the situation looks considerably less hopeless.