Ruby Walsh: Guiding your pocket through a turbulent Cheltenham week

The Gold Cup course is made for Gaelic Warrior, and his ability to get three miles over hurdles as a five-year-old at Punchestown leaves no doubt about his stamina.

GENUINE OR FAKIR? Mark Walsh riding Fakir D'Oudairies at Aintree. Enda Bolger took charge of him last season and looks to have plotted the perfect route to festival glory.

Galopin Des Champs' exit from the Gold Cup dealt the race and the whole Festival meeting a blow. He is a marquee name and has been a flag flyer for the Willie Mullins yard for the past number of seasons. 

The fact that he has really started to blossom in the weeks between the DRF and now will make it an even harder pill for Willie Mullins to swallow, but sport is not kind or fair, and without Galopin Des Champs, the Gold Cup will be run next Friday.