Elite sport is replete with examples of top performers who couldn’t translate their best form on the biggest days.

Golfer Colin Montgomerie was leading earner on the European Tour a record eight times yet never won a major, popular snooker star Jimmy White never won the World Championship despite reaching its final six times, whilst then-marathon world record-holder Paula Radcliffe suffered heartache when twice tackling that event at the Olympics.

The career of tennis great Ivan Lendl seemed set to follow a similar path at one stage. By mid-1985, Lendl had amassed a lucrative haul of 46 ATP title wins, yet his record in Grand Slams finals was just one win from seven. A link-up with mind coach Alexis Castorri immediately rectified that, as Lendl went on to win seven further Grand Slams from his next 11 final appearances – Lendl, of course, went on to become the coach who helped Andy Murray break his own Grand Slam hoodoo, when Dr Castorri also formed part of the Scot’s back-up team.

The use of psychologists and psychiatrists in sport is commonplace four decades later. That said, even the most decorated sporting shrinks of today would probably require lengthy spells on the couch themselves had they ever tried to decipher the mental inner workings of Bird’s Nest, one of the highest-rated jumpers to be awarded a Timeform squiggle and also widely regarded as the best horse never to win the Champion Hurdle.

Bird’s Nest drew a blank from six attempts at hurdling’s blue riband event, his only placings coming when runner-up to Night Nurse in 1976 and third to old rival Sea Pigeon in 1980. Away from the Champion Hurdle, however, Bird’s Nest had a 3-3 head-to-head record with Night Nurse, whilst he led Sea Pigeon 5-4 on their non-Cheltenham Festival clashes!

He arguably deserved one more verdict over Sea Pigeon too, finishing first past the post in the 1980 Fighting Fifth Hurdle only for the placings to be reversed by local stewards in a fairly contentious decision. Bird’s Nest was bidding for a fourth win in the Newcastle showpiece, his other big wins including the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton in 1979, the Scottish Champion Hurdle at Ayr in 1979 and 1981, plus the Wolverhampton Champion Hurdle Trial (yes, there used to be such a race!) in 1976, 1977 and 1979.

Another race Bird’s Nest won three times was the International Hurdle at Cheltenham, his final win in what was then known as the Bula coming in 1980, when his ‘Jekyll & Hyde’ tendencies were firmly on display. Taking on rivals largely half his age, the 10-year-old Bird’s Nest found himself at the head of affairs as the field dawdled to the first. Regular partner Andy Turnell sensed an opening and, in an enterprising move, caught his rivals napping when kicking about a dozen lengths clear early on the final circuit – only for Bird’s Nest to throw away that advantage by trying to pull himself up at halfway!

Bird’s Nest had also blotted his copybook when a beaten odds-on favourite in the 1979 Bula, flashing his tail repeatedly in the dash for home and also hanging left under pressure (a similar party piece to which those Newcastle stewards had acted upon). This time around, he knuckled down splendidly at the end of another steadily-run race, holding off 1979 winner Celtic Ryde by a neck, with a further three-quarters of a length back to the 1980 Triumph Hurdle winner Heighlin in third.

It is somewhat fitting that Bird’s Nest holds the joint-record (together with Relkeel and The New One) for most wins in the International Hurdle, as the race has proved a relatively poor source for that season’s Champion Hurdle winners – Salmon Spray (1965/66), Comedy of Errors (1974/75) and Rooster Booster (2002/03) are the only names to complete the double in its 63-year history.

The decision to move the International Hurdle from Cheltenham’s December meeting to Trials Day in 2023/24 could help end that drought as its new late-January slot fits better with the modern trends of how top jumpers are campaigned. The 2024 winner Lossiemouth might well have the Champion Hurdle had she not sidestepped the big race for the Mares’ Hurdle instead, whilst last year’s winner Constitution Hill was trading odds-on in-running when departing four out in the 2025 Champion.

Alas, this year’s renewal was marred by the serious injury suffered by Sir Gino (h166p) before the race had begun in earnest, though the fact both he and The New Lion (h161p) had stood their ground is just the sort of high-profile clash that Cheltenham Trials Day needs if it’s to combat the quality on offer at next weekend’s Dublin Racing Festival.

That said, even before Sir Gino’s sad exit, this year’s renewal was reminiscent of those messy tactical 1979 and 1980 editions, with Nico de Boinville and Harry Skelton jostling at the start to set off in last place rather than first. In the event, The New Lion was left with two outsiders to beat and, with his jumping holding up well on the back of a heavy fall, he wasn’t fully extended to see off that pair in the ensuing sprint.

A length-and-a-half defeat of Nemean Lion, with a further nose back to the fully-exposed Brentford Hope, clearly isn’t anything to be getting excited about on paper and The New Lion’s current rating is more an assessment of his unbeaten novice campaign rather than his runs in two steadily-run races this season.

All of which offers some clue as to why Champion Hurdle trials have regularly thrown up misleading form down the years as they rarely provide the sort of searching gallop encountered in the big race itself. In fact, historically the best trial for the Champion Hurdle has often been the previous year’s renewal – in addition to its many multiple winners, the race has thrown up plenty of repeat placed horses (usually at big prices) who’ve thrived when facing that sort of test for the first time since 12 months previously.

To combat this, connections of olden-day champion hurdles such as Persian War, Lanzarote and Gaye Brief often used another of their horses to act as a pacemaker, a tactic also adopted in recent years by the powerhouse Gigginstown and JP McManus teams with some of their leading hurdlers. As things stand, however, The New Lion is the only McManus-owned horse entered for the 2026 Champion Hurdle, so he’ll have to rely on others to provide a gallop more suitable to his style of racing.

The card’s other headline race, the Cotswold Chase, produced another steady gallop and a strict interpretation of the bare form is also misleading, with 2024 winner L’Homme Presse (c164) emerging as the best horse at the weights on the day but arguably the least interesting of the quartet looking ahead.

Instead, there was enough in the performance by Spillane’s Tower (c166) to suggest he’s back to the sort of form he showed when splitting Fact To File and Galopin des Champs in last season’s John Durkan Chase, even though he clearly didn’t run fully up to that level in beating L’Homme Press by three-quarters of a length when in receipt of 6lb.

Beaten favourite Grey Dawning (c166) remains on a higher rating too despite finishing a further four-and-a-half lengths adrift off the same weight as L’Homme Presse, with Harry Skelton quick to accept matters after an untidy jump two out just as the race was taking shape. Last-to-finish Flooring Porter (c158) was almost certainly having a pipe-opener ahead of a tilt at the Grand National (this run qualifies him for that race) and showed enough spark under uncustomary hold-up tactics to suggest all of his ability remains intact after a lengthy absence.

Experience of Cheltenham’s fences over 25 furlongs would appeal as an ideal trial for the Gold Cup, yet the Cotswold Chase hasn’t worked out that way of late, particularly as the aforementioned Dublin Racing Festival attracts the cream of the Irish staying chase division at this time of year. As a result, Looks Like Trouble (2000) remains the last winner to also land that season’s Cheltenham Gold Cup, with Master Oats (1995) and Little Owl (1981) the only others to complete this double – although Dawn Run would have done so but for parting company with Tony Mullins at the final ditch in 1986 when about a fence clear!

By contrast, the one race on Cheltenham Trials Days that has regularly lived up to its billing of late is the Timeform Novices’ Handicap Chase, which has thrown up no fewer than eight Festival winners from its last 11 renewals – namely Irish Cavalier (2015 third), Un Temps Pour Tout (2016 fourth), Mister Whitaker (2017 winner), Simply The Betts (2020 winner), Imperial Aura (2020 second), Stage Star (2023 winner), Unexpected Party (2023 ninth) and Jagwar (2025 winner).

As with some of those examples, it could pay to keep an eye on those who finished down the field, particularly as this year’s renewal definitely seemed to favour prominent racers, which is a common theme over fences on Cheltenham’s New Course during the winter months.

Chief amongst these was fourth-placed Kdeux Saint Fray (c130p), who found himself in a poor position when caught behind the fading French raider Kaline des Boullat just as the race was taking shape and flew home once in the clear, looking to finish with plenty of running left – all in all, he’s well worth another chance off this sort of mark.

That said, pride of place must go to his stable companion Jordans Cross (c141p), who continues to reward his connections’ bold decision to fast-track him to fences. In fact, he should still have a 100% record in this sphere, an unlucky final-fence fall at Cheltenham in November (when Kdeux Saint Fray was the chief beneficiary) preventing a clean sweep from his four starts this season.

His jumping seems an asset despite that spill, whilst the last-gasp nature of his last two wins are likely to keep him ahead of the BHA handicapper for a while yet, particularly as he should be marked up for this latest success given that runner-up Quebecois (c140p) rather got first run on him. Those battling qualities should continue to stand him in good stead, whilst further improvement will surely be forthcoming as his stamina is drawn out more (he’ll stay three miles plus).

Indeed, despite his relative inexperience, Jordans Cross already looks to have all the right attributes to mix it in a big-field Cheltenham Festival handicap – unlike some, he’s unlikely to fluff his lines come the big day…