Jonjo O’Neill and son soaring once more from Jackdaws Castle base

It is a select band of people that are sufficiently revered in their chosen field as to be referred to solely by their Christian name, and the affable Corkman had long since earned that privilege

Trainer Jonjo O'Neill. Picture: David Davies/PA

One of my earliest memories of attending the Cheltenham Festival is 1997, a year that, on reflection, encapsulated a changing of the guard in National Hunt racing with a young AP McCoy pipping Richard Dunwoody to clinch the leading jockey award for the first time.

Back then, out of necessity, our method of traveI was the ferry and on the way across the Irish Sea my friends and I got chatting to a few older punters. After a tremendously successful raid the previous year which climaxed with Imperial Call landing chasing’s blue riband, there were once again plenty of big Irish hopes making the journey over.