IT IS 41 years since Dermot Weld’s sole ride at the Cheltenham festival ended in ignominy when the then celebrated amateur jockey wound up in the water jump. He remembers the depth – and the cold.

“I was on a horse called Knockadoon for Willie O’Grady in the four-mile National Hunt Chase. It was a miserable wet day and he took off way too early,” the now world-renowned trainer wryly remembers. “Actually that convinced me even more that water jumps are a totally unnecessary jump to have. At least Irish National Hunt racing is intelligent enough not to have them,” he says.

The colours Weld carried on Knockadoon belonged to Charmain Hill who later owned the legendary mare Dawn Run. Knockadoon’s jockey didn’t do too badly afterwards either, rewriting the international flat racing record books with an American classic victory, a couple of Melbourne Cups, every Irish classic and countless valuable races around the world.

Rare Holiday hardly ranks in the talent stakes with the likes of Grey Swallow, Go And Go and Vintage Crop but he has had a unique position all to himself for the last 20 years as Weld’s only Cheltenham festival winner, coming home with the 1990 Triumph Hurdle.

That status looks under real threat this Wednesday, however, with Rite Of Passage expected to start a warm favourite for the Neptune Investments Novice Hurdle and both Elegant Concorde and Hidden Universe holding leading chances in the bumper.

For most any other trainer, they would represent the opportunity of a lifetime. It’s different for Weld. A naturally competitive instinct means he wants to win. But he determinedly keeps his small National Hunt interests in perspective.

“This isn’t the day job. I am very much a flat trainer. But I’ve always enjoyed having a few jumpers and teaching them to jump properly. It also gives everybody something to do during the winter,” he says.

As hobbies go, Weld’s has been spectacularly successful. Perris Valley won the 1988 Irish Grand National four years after Greasepaint came agonisingly close to landing the English National. There are two wins each in the Galway Plate and the Galway Hurdle, not to mention a pair of Irish Champion Hurdles with Fortune And Fame.

Aside from his swimming exploits in 1969, Weld’s greatest Cheltenham disappointment came when Fortune And Fame missed the 1994 Champion Hurdle due to a leg infection – “I have little doubt he would have won”.

Rare Holiday was a 25 to 1 surprise and although Rite Of Passage is much more in the hotpot category, he does share the dual-purpose profile that the former Triumph winner had. Rite Of Passage ran in National Hunt races before running on the flat but the regally bred gelding is very much a dual-purpose type.

“I think he will make a very high-class flat horse later in the year,” Weld admits. In fact the argument that Rite Of Passage is favourite on the basis of that potential on the flat rather than anything he has done over jumps is gathering momentum.

“He is a very short price. I would like him to be a bit more battle-hardened. Ideally you would like to go to Cheltenham with five or six runs over hurdles under your belt. But he can only do what he has been asked to do.

“He can handle most anything else but he wouldn’t like gluey ground and as he is such a long-striding horse, I definitely think he will be better on a level track,” he adds.

Elegant Concorde and Hidden Universe represent a formidable challenge on the Bumper, a race Rite Of Passage was third in last year, with champion flat jockey Pat Smullen teaming up with the latter and amateur Robbie McNamara on Elegant Concorde.

“There is nothing between the two. I can see Elegant Concorde going on to be a smart flat handicapper this year while Hidden Universe is a more powerful sort who will handle soft ground. It’s a big ask for Robbie to ride both him and Rite Of Passage but he has ridden exceptionally well since joining me,” Weld says.

Weld is famously thorough in his instructions to jockeys but McNamara can always console himself with the idea that whatever his fate, it is highly unlikely to include winding up in the water – unlike the boss.