This year’s Arkle is being billed as one of the races of the Festival and you can certainly see why. I was lucky enough to be in Ireland to witness El Fabiolo destroy them in the Irish equivalent and he will certainly put up a big fight in this. I can’t get away from JONBON though. I feel like too much has been read into that Warwick display and Nicky Henderson will have him perfectly primed for this. He is 3-3 over fences and remains a hugely exciting horse. He chased home Constitution Hill in the Supreme last year before beating El Fabiolo at Aintree. That horse has matured well since and would usually have this race at his mercy but I remain convinced Jonbon is one of the best horses in training and I think he has the edge again.

Dysart Dynamo will give them a perfect lead into the race and I can just see the pair of them swinging in on the bridle before battling it out up the hill. It will come down to who jumps better and I remain convinced the selection is the better of the pair. El Fabiolo clearly has an engine but he hammered 4 out at Leopardstown and I don’t think he will get away with a similar mistake here. He is a big horse and struggles to get himself organised sometimes. It is interesting Saint Roi comes here but he is up against it on the stats having unseated behind El Fabiolo last time out.