I could have gone to Ascot this afternoon to ride one of our two runners in the Ladbroke Hurdle, but have a good book of rides at Fairyhouse and, so, opted to stay at home.

Deciding between riding at Tramore and Cheltenham this afternoon was pretty straight-forward.

Navan is not where I expected to be this afternoon, but I suppose it was better to find out early in the week at home that Un De Sceaux was a bit flat than when leaving the Railway Fences and wondering why he wasn’t picking up going to the Pond Fence.

The first of two great days of racing at Fairyhouse takes place today and, while Willie has a number of runners at the track, I’ll be at Newcastle to ride Wicklow Brave in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle.

Work continues apace at Willie’s yard as the load on the winter horses increases but, as anticipated, it’s still relatively quiet with regard to entries.

I have a day off today, but there is National Hunt racing at Wexford and Willie’s only runner is Pont De Alma, in the bumper.

Due to the problem I spoke of in this column last week - rain, or, more specifically, the lack of it - we’re still waiting to really get going with our National Hunt horses, but Don Cossack didn’t half throw down an early marker with a brilliant comeback this week at Punchestown.