The big uncertainty is the weather. I'm down in Bournemouth, which isn't that far from Cheltenham, at the moment with the Sunderland squad and we're getting every kind of weather. This leaves the state of the ground as the big issue.

Having said that I think Istabraq, who got me out of trouble last year, should be okay, and even if he isn't J P McManus has a pretty useful sub in Grimes. Those would be my two in the Champion Hurdle.

I'm pretty confident Dorans Pride can make it a big-race Irish double in the Gold Cup. Apart from one bad run at Naas, Dorans Pride has done everything right and emotionally it would be a fantastic success. I just hope Shane Broderick will be around if it happens.

I think the Irish will do well because the dark days of the late 1980s when any promising young horse in Ireland was sold to England are well gone. Unfortunately that can mean that all logic goes out the window when I bet. Florida Pearl has done nothing wrong. I remember everybody talking about him before he won last year and it would be nice if he could do it again. I'm friends with the Queallys who own Space Trucker in the Arkle Trophy and he loves it up the hill.

The syndicate I run sold on The French Furze to England last year and I'll be seriously looking at him in the Triumph Hurdle. He won't be worth backing unless the ground dries out but if it does, he'll have a serious chance at a big price.