It may be almost 20 years since his heartbreaking Champion Hurdle near miss, but Harchibald still holds a special place in the affections of his trainer Noel Meade.

Harchibald won 14 of his 48 career appearances and struck at the highest level on five occasions.

But the conclusion of his 2005 Cheltenham Festival defeat – where he loomed up large in the hands of ever-loyal pilot Paul Carberry before agonisingly falling a neck short of victory – remains the underlying memory of Harchibald’s storied career on the racecourse.

Retired in 2009 and now 25 years of age, Harchibald is enjoying life in Cork, but his old tutor is always keen to be updated on the well-being of his favourite pupil.

“He was a great horse to have and we enjoyed him. He’s still my favourite horse,” said Meade.

“He is down in Cork with the Hurleys. When he retired, we gave him to Johnny Hurley’s wife to ride in racehorse classes, which she did for a while, but he wasn’t that simple at it.

“So, they eventually retired him from that as well and he’s been living the life of luxury for the last number of years, being well looked after.

“I’ve seen him a couple of times since he’s retired, I haven’t been down there lately, but they let me know what’s happening with him.”

Harchibald was at his peak during the 2004-2005 season, when successful raids on Newcastle’s Fighting Fifth and the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton made him a prime candidate to land the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

Sent off 7-1 behind joint-favourites Hardy Eustace (the defending champion) and Back In Front, Carberry was at his patient best when biding his time in the rear before beginning to smoothly move into contention on the run to two out.

What happened next has gone down in Festival folklore, as a motionless Carberry cruised alongside fellow hurdling greats Hardy Eustace and Brave Inca jumping the last and remained locked on the bridle as the trio edged their way up the lung-busting Cheltenham hill.

With the winning post approaching, Carberry remained static, as if a cat playing with his prey, but although he knew Harchibald better than most, when the time finally came to ask his mount to go on and win the Champion Hurdle, he was repelled by the tough-as-teak title holder.

“I suppose he is remarkable in that he is remembered more for being beaten than he was for winning,” said Meade.

“That Champion Hurdle defeat, people remember him for that more than anything else. But he was always a strong traveller in his races and jumped very well, which was a big thing.

“It is what it is and you often think about it again and think if something was done different, maybe he could have won. I always stood by Paul and still do – and he did what he thought was right on the day. It’s hard to watch now even.

“I was stood alongside Dessie Hughes and when they jumped the last, Dessie tapped me on the back and said well done – and of course his horse stayed on. The other two horses were very strong battlers, both Hardy Eustace and Brave Inca were very tough.”

It was en route to that famous reversal when Meade believed Harchibald was at his very best, reeling in former Champion Hurdle victor Rooster Booster to claim the first of two Christmas Hurdles he would win at Kempton on Boxing Day.

Meade added: “The time he beat Rooster Booster at Kempton, I was watching at Leopardstown and stood next to Frank Berry and Rooster Booster went half a furlong in front and we were watching it wondering were we going to get there – and of course we did. That was very exciting and one I remember well.

“I think that was the year he was at his peak, although extraordinary enough, his piece of work he did before the Champion Hurdle that year at Navan on very soft ground was very poor. It was about 10 or 12 days before the race, but on the good ground at Cheltenham, he was a different proposition.”

No Harchibald story is complete without a word for Carberry, the man who partnered the gelding more than other and perhaps the only one to eclipse Meade’s love of the brilliant bay hurdler.

Carberry was on board for Harchibald’s biggest victories, but also in some of his most cruel defeats and Meade will always remember the jockey’s answer to a question posed after the 8-11 favourite had failed to conquer Straw Bear in the 2007 Christmas Hurdle.

“Paul absolutely adored Harchibald, he just loved him,” said Meade.

“I will never forget when he got beat in the Christmas Hurdle by Straw Bear, with AP riding, and he was beaten a head.

“Paul never hit him and I wasn’t there, I was in Leopardstown, so the following day I said to him ‘would you not have hit him just once?’.

“And Paul looked at me, and there was a tear in his eye as he said ‘why would I hit him, he was doing his best’. I will never forget him saying that to me.

“He was very good on a flat track and Paul felt he just didn’t get home on a stiff track. He was very good at Newcastle and he was very good at Kempton.

“He won at both of those tracks twice and he won at Punchestown, which is flat enough too, he just struggled to get home when the track was a bit stiffer. He did win the International at Cheltenham though, which was a Grade Two.”

Harchibald would correct the record when winning the Christmas Hurdle for the second time in 2008, with his final career success followed by retirement in November the following year.

However, before time was called, Harchibald was given one start over fences, when he finished second to Sizing Europe, leaving his handler to wonder if connections should have pursued options over the larger obstacles sooner.

Meade said: “In the end, he did have one go over fences and I was always a bit worried about putting him over fences because he was so brave. But he jumped brilliant and I was a bit sorry we didn’t put him over fences earlier.

“He used to get a problem behind when he would run in soft and sticky ground, where he would pull a ligament behind and go lame on us, and that was always a problem. But it was probably a pity that we didn’t try him over fences earlier.”

A trip to the Cheltenham Festival remains under consideration for Golden Ace after she maintained her unbeaten record over hurdles with a facile success at Taunton.

Runner-up to Dysart Enos in the Grade Two mares’ bumper at Aintree last spring, Jeremy Scott’s new stable star made a successful transition to the jumping game at Taunton early in the new year.

Saddled with a mandatory penalty on her return to the Somerset circuit for the Stables Business Park Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle, Golden Ace was the 1-2 favourite to follow up under Lorcan Williams and was not hard pressed in the slightest to score by two and a quarter lengths from Linda Moon.

The winner is a 10-1 shot with Paddy Power for the Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham on March 14 – and while Scott raised the final of the Herring Queen Mares’ Novices Hurdle Series at Kelso on April 6 as an alternative, she would be a worthy runner at the Festival.

“We were slightly concerned about the ground,” Scott told Racing TV. “It was soft ground last time over two-miles-three and over two miles on lovely, good ground I just wondered whether she’d have the toe for it, but she seemed to have every bit of the toe.

“She got a bit keen part way round, she seems to travel well and her jumping is good, but will need to slicken up if we’re going on to bigger targets.

“We’ve got some fairly lofty ambitions for her and I hope she lives up to them. That (Cheltenham) was certainly the plan if everything went well, having said that the final of this race is a fabulously rich race and you wouldn’t rule that out, actually.”

Warren Greatrex will train Mighty Bandit for the Triumph Hurdle at next month’s Cheltenham Festival after he changed hands for €420,000 at Monday’s high-profile Tattersalls Ireland sale at Fairyhouse.

The four-year-old was one of 29 horses to go through the sales ring as part of a dispersal sale by prominent owners Andy and Gemma Brown following their shock decision to quit the sport late last month.

The top lot was the Grade One-winning Caldwell Potter, who is set to join Paul Nicholls after going under the hammer at €740,000, while the second, third and fourth top lots – Fil Dor (€620,000), Pied Piper (€570,000) and Staffordshire Knot (€510,000) – were all bought to return to Gordon Elliott.

Fifth on the list was Mighty Bandit, with Greatrex delighted to get his hands on him after he was bought by Jim and Claire Bryce, his landlords at the historic Rhonehurst yard in Lambourn.

“Everyone wants to train quality horses and he looks to have a very exciting profile,” he said.

“I’m so grateful to Jim and Claire. It was Jim who was pushing for this and the sale yesterday was unique really – I’ve never seen anything like it.

“Normally dispersal sales take place towards the end of horses’ careers, but the majority if not all of the horses sold yesterday are in their prime.

“It captured everyone’s imagination and we had a list of I think seven horses. We liked Fil Dor, but I think between all of us Mighty Bandit was the one we were very keen on because he’s only a four-year-old and we can make him, as it were, going forwards.”

The son of Order Of St George looked every inch a star juvenile in the making when winning on his hurdling debut for Elliott at Punchestown in November, but subsequently disappointed as a hot favourite for a Grade Two at Leopardstown’s Christmas Festival.

However, Greatrex revealed there was a valid reason for that below-par performance and hopes he can show his true colours in the spring.

He added: “He was mightily impressive on his first run, the way he quickened up for a horse that had never run before, it’s very exciting when you see that.

“He scoped dirty after Leopardstown at Christmas and Gordon had told us that he’d also tinkered with his epiglottis, which is something quite common.

“Their thinking was that they were going to aim for the Triumph Hurdle, so as long as everything is good and we’re happy with him that’s where he’ll go.”

With the Festival only five weeks ago, Greatrex admits he is not going to have time to give Mighty Bandit another run before Cheltenham, meaning his preparation will have to take place in Lambourn.

“You would obviously like to see him on the track first, but if Gordon was aiming him for the Triumph he obviously rated him highly and I’m not going to change anything,” he said.

“I think it would be more beneficial to give him time to settle in and go there – and if Cheltenham does come a bit soon, then we’ve got Aintree to roll on to after if we want to.

“He’s only a four-year-old and he’s going to have a very bright future, hopefully, so I will try to do him justice.”

Mighty Bandit was not the only horse from the dispersal who will make the switch from Elliott to Greatrex, with Tactical Affair snapped up for a slightly less eyewatering sum of €62,000.

The five-year-old has won once and placed twice from five starts so far and he too could have Cheltenham on his radar as Greatrex, who trained Stayers’ Hurdle hero Cole Harden and two other Grade One winners in One Track Mind and La Bague Au Roi, looks to get himself back into the big time.

Greatrex added: “All being well, we’ll aim Tactical Affair at the Martin Pipe (Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle).

“I know it sounds ridiculous, but I think at €62,000 he was probably very well bought as he’s only a five-year-old and hasn’t had many runs and has a good pedigree.

“It’s very exciting. Everyone knows that I’ve had a few quiet years, but they’ve been going well this year and last year and we want to be back at the top table. Hopefully these with one or two others might get us back there.

“It is tough and we’ve seen in the last couple of years that Ireland are dominating. That’s fair enough and it goes in swings and roundabouts, I think.

“I’ve been there and proved that I can do it in England and in Ireland – I think I’m still the only Grade One-winning British trainer at the Dublin Racing Festival.

“We’ve proved if we get the ammunition we can do it and once you’ve tasted it you want to get back there, so we’ll do what we can to do just that.”

All eyes will be on Reach For The Moon, who is jointly-owned by the Queen, when he makes his hurdling debut at Sedgefield on Wednesday.

A Group Three winner and runner-up in the Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot as a juvenile on the Flat for John and Thady Gosden when owned by Queen Elizabeth II, he was also second in the Hampton Court Stakes at the Royal meeting as a three-year-old, having had to miss the Classics following a setback.

He lost his way somewhat in three runs after that and was sent to Jamie Snowden for a jumping career following his unplaced effort in the Royal Hunt Cup. After taking his time with his new recruit, Snowden feels now is the time to test the water, before a potential Cheltenham Festival outing.

The King and Queen clearly enjoyed their runners last year, winning at Royal Ascot for the first time with Desert Hero and travelling to Doncaster to see the same horse finish third in the St Leger, although Reach For The Moon now runs for the Queen in her colours and is jointly-owned by former Arsenal chairman, Sir Chips Keswick.

“He’s taken well to jumping. He came to us last summer and we did a fair bit with him and then he went back to Sandringham for a holiday. He came back to us November-time and he’s done very well,” said Snowden.

“He enjoys his jumping, he jumps very neatly and accurately and his work has obviously been very good, as you would expect from a talented Flat horse, and we thought it was time to start and tip away gently.

“I don’t see why he wouldn’t stay the trip, there’s stamina in his pedigree, obviously the ground will be a little bit softer than he has been used to in the past and he’s got to get used to jumping eight flights of hurdles. But if he can translate what he has done at home to the track then hopefully he should go well.

“As far as the horse is concerned we’ve got to start somewhere and see where he takes us.”

Harry Cobden paid an emotional tribute to his late colleague Keagan Kirkby after steering Fire Flyer to a second victory in the space of a week at Taunton on Tuesday.

Kirkby, 25, a point-to-point rider and highly-valued member of the Paul Nicholls team at Ditcheat, died following a fall at Charing point-to-point in Kent on Sunday.

Title-chasing Cobden rode a four-timer for Nicholls at Musselburgh on the same afternoon and was back in action for the first time since aboard Fire Flyer in division two of the Racing TV Club Day Novices’ Hurdle, with jockeys at the Somerset track observing a minute’s silence and sporting black armbands.

Having finished second to Brechin Castle in a Listed bumper at Cheltenham before chasing home the exciting Gidleigh Park on his hurdling debut at Newbury, the six-year-old landed cramped odds of 2-13 when going one better at Wincanton last week and was sent back into action just five days later.

It was not entirely plain sailing for the 5-6 favourite, whom Cobden said Kirkby rode in his work at home, with Secret Squirrel giving him a real run for his money, but Fire Flyer got on top late on to score by a neck.

“Paul had his mind made up that he wanted to get him out quickly because he wanted to give him the four weeks to the EBF Final from today,” Cobden told Racing TV.

“I’d just like to say a special word for Keagan Kirkby because he rode that horse every day, so that was for him. He deserved that.”

The British Horseracing Authority and Point-to-Point Authority have pledged to carry out a full review into the tragic death of Kirkby to gauge whether any lessons can be learned.

Irish trainers are responsible for a record 61 entries of the total 94 received for this year’s Randox Grand National – with the Aintree spectacular also having a new start time of 4pm this year.

The race has been brought forward by 75 minutes, having previously got under orders at 5.15pm, while a reduced field of 34 will also be introduced as officials continue to look at making the race as safe as possible.

Last year’s hero Corach Rambler heads the ante-post betting for Scottish trainer Lucinda Russell, with another previous winner, the Emmet Mullins-trained Noble Yeats, likely to be popular, too.

Those with previous good form over the fences booked in for a return to Merseyside include the likes of Vanillier, who was second last year, and Becher Chase runner-up Coko Beach.

He is one of a 26-strong entry for Gordon Elliott that also includes Conflated and Samcro, while Willie Mullins is responsible for 13, with Cotswold Chase winner Capodanno and Irish National hero I Am Maximus part of his team, although Gaillard Du Mesnil is not.

Others prominent in the ante-post lists include John McConnell’s Mahler Mission, the Martin Brassil-trained Panda Boy and King George winner Hewick, from the yard of Shark Hanlon.

Monbeg Genius, Nassalam, Kitty’s Light and Galia Des Liteaux are among the leading prospects entered from English-based yards. The weights will be revealed in a fortnight’s time in Liverpool.

Last year’s race was delayed due to Grand National protesters making their way onto the track, with the contest eventually going off nearly 15 minutes later than scheduled.

Following the annual review of the race, a number of changes were announced last October, including a reduction in field size, the introduction of a standing start and moving the first fence closer to the race.

It had been agreed an earlier start could help to ensure the safest ground conditions, but subsequent discussions were required before a new time was agreed.

Sulekha Varma, the Jockey Club’s north west head of racing and clerk of the course at Aintree, said: “We leave no stone unturned in providing world-class standards of welfare for our participants and undertake a review after every Grand National.

“These reviews look at a wide range of factors and the learnings from the process drives a number of changes, large and small, annually. In October we announced that one of the changes being made from 2024 would involve bringing forward the start time of the race, which has been 5.15pm since 2016.

“This was a decision we took after a number of participants and other racing stakeholders raised concerns about the long build-up to the race throughout the day and heightened tension as a result. These were not issues which had been identified as a problem when the race was previously staged at 3.45pm and 4.15pm.

“Bringing forward the start time of the Grand National by 75 minutes to 4pm will also help us to maintain optimal jumping ground, as warm or breezy conditions can dry out the racing surface.”

Impaire Et Passe looks set to head straight to the Aintree Hurdle in April after being scratched from both the Champion Hurdle and the Stayers’ Hurdle at next month’s Cheltenham Festival.

The Willie Mullins-trained six-year-old was considered one of the most exciting horses in training following an unbeaten novice campaign that saw him land the Ballymore at Cheltenham and a Grade One at Punchestown, but he has suffered defeat in each of his three outings so far this term.

He was touched off by leading Stayers’ Hurdle contender Teahupoo on his reappearance in the two-and-a-half-mile Hatton’s Grace and has since proved no match for his Champion Hurdle-bound stablemate State Man in either the Matheson Hurdle or the Irish Champion Hurdle over two miles at Leopardstown.

With connections of the opinion he requires a step back up in distance but that a first foray over three miles in the Stayers’ Hurdle would be a step too far, Impaire Et Passe will not be in action at the showpiece meeting in the Cotswolds in five weeks’ time.

Anthony Bromley, racing manager for owners Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, said: “The feeling after Daryl (Jacob) rode him the other day was that we need to keep him to two and a half miles and there isn’t a two-and-a-half-mile race at Cheltenham. We’ll wait for Aintree and see if we can get him sparkling again.

“We don’t feel he’s reached the form that he was showing last year, so the idea is to wait for Aintree and if he’s not sparkling going into Aintree we’ll just wait for novice chasing next season.

“We can’t see either race at Cheltenham being what needs at this moment. Two miles looks too short and we don’t want to go three miles at this stage.

“Daryl was adamant to go two and a half at Aintree and freshen him up for that.”

Impaire Et Passe is one of four horses scratched from the Champion Hurdle along with his stable companion Vauban, James Owen’s high-class juvenile Burdett Road and the Henry de Bromhead-trained Bob Olinger, who also appears bound for Aintree after splitting State Man and Impaire Et Passe when second in the Irish Champion Hurdle on Sunday.

Seven have been taken out of the Stayers’ Hurdle, with Ahoy Senor and Ashdale Bob among those joining Impaire Et Passe as absentees.

Dual winner Allaho tops six horses scratched from the Ryanair Chase along with Dysart Dynamo, Idas Boy, Jonbon, Sir Gerhard and Greaneteen.

Dysart Dynamo and Greaneteen are also out of the Queen Mother Champion Chase, as are Dinoblue, Fil Dor and Nube Negra, while the Cheltenham Gold Cup field has also reduced by four, with Envoi Allen, Royale Pagaille, Stay Away Fay and the fatally injured Datsalrightgino all withdrawn.

Sixmilebridge could be added to trainer Ben Pauling’s small but select team for next month’s Cheltenham Festival following an impressive debut at Sandown last weekend.

The Naunton Downs handler is fast approaching the 50-winner mark for the current campaign and has unearthed several exciting prospects who are under consideration for the showpiece meeting in the Cotswolds in five weeks’ time.

Pauling is particularly strong in the novice hurdle division, with Fiercely Proud and The Jukebox Man both placed in graded company and the unbeaten Handstands and dual winner Tellherthename both facing crucial tests this week in the Sidney Banks at Huntingdon and Betfair Hurdle at Newbury respectively.

Point-to-point recruit Sixmilebridge was unraced under rules prior to running in Sandown’s bumper finale on Saturday, but was backed as if plenty was expected and duly justified favouritism with an impressive victory, teeing himself up for a potential tilt at the Champion Bumper.

“In everything he’s done at home he’s been impressive,” said Pauling.

“He’s not a keen horse, he’s just a good work horse, and we’ve struggled with him throughout the whole season in getting his lung health spot-on.

“He still wasn’t spot-on on Saturday, but it had got to the point in the season where we either rolled the dice to see how we got on or we shut up shop for the season. We decided to roll the dice and we were delighted to see what we got because there’s probably a fair bit of improvement to come when he’s 100 per cent healthy.

“If I can get his trach wash clean, he would be the sort that I would roll at the Cheltenham bumper because he seems to have that mental attitude you need and travels well without being too keen – he looks like he knows his job.

“We might let him roll in the Cheltenham bumper, which would be unusual for me, but I do think he’s potentially a bit special.”

Sixmilebridge’s victory was the second leg of a Sandown double for Pauling and his owners the Megson family, with the tricky but talented Harper’s Brook striking gold in a valuable handicap chase.

The eight-year-old had thrown away victory on his previous outing at Ascot when pulling himself up on the run-in, but having got the job done on Saturday, he too is Festival-bound.

Pauling added: “He is a horse with enormous ability, an unbelievable stride and the scope he has is just mad, but he is a bit of a character to say the least, so any day you get his head in front is a good day.

“I was thrilled with the way he travelled through the race off a strong pace. He was nearly taken out at the third-last by the loose horse and it was unfortunate at the last for the other horse to fall, but we can now look forward to going to Cheltenham with an exciting horse for the Grand Annual.

“He’s been given a mark of 140 which is spot-on as it’ll get you in, but you’ll be near the bottom of the weights. I couldn’t be happier with him.”

Harry Redknapp-owned The Jukebox Man has not been seen in competitive action since finishing third in the Grade One Challow Hurdle at Newbury in late December, but he is also on Pauling’s Prestbury Park teamsheet.

“Jukebox will go straight to Cheltenham and I’d say he’s more of an Albert Bartlett horse than a Baring Bingham horse,” the trainer said.

“If the Baring Bingham came up on proper heavy ground then I’d probably stick at two-and-a-half, but I think he’s probably more of a three-miler.

“He ran a blinder in the Challow. It was pretty tough going that day and they went a proper, honest gallop considering the conditions.

“I just thought that even though that he seems great at home, he could do with a proper opportunity to freshen up. He’s in really good form and I think he’s only going to improve.”

Title-chasing rider Sean Bowen has been cleared to make his comeback from injury at Huntingdon on Thursday.

Bowen, out of action since a fall at Aintree on Boxing Day, has seen his long-established lead at the top of the jump jockeys’ standings chipped away at in recent weeks by Harry Cobden.

Before racing on Tuesday Cobden had reduced the lead to just five, and that during a time when his main backer Paul Nicholls is habitually quiet. His runners have clicked back into gear recently, though, and he provided Cobden with a four-timer at Musselburgh on Sunday.

Bowen has one ride at Huntingdon, on Olly Murphy’s new recruit Roccovango in the Mulberry Developments Novices’ Handicap Hurdle.

“It was great to jock Sean back up on a horse this morning,” said Murphy.

“He’s riding out tomorrow, his rehab has gone well and he told me he was on the Equicizer yesterday, did some exercises and all was good.

“We’re looking forward to having him back. He’s a huge part of our team and is someone all the young lads look up to as well.

“He’s a big part of the furniture at Warren Chase and we’ll be doing all we can to get back behind him, along with many other people, to make him champion jockey.

“He was flying up to Christmas, he’d been riding extremely well all year but unfortunately the life of a jump jockey means injuries are a part of it and he had a bad fall at Aintree on Boxing Day and missed six weeks.

“Harry Cobden has clawed back a lot of his lead, he is riding extremely well as well and he’s ultra-talented. We wish the two of them the best of luck, but obviously our loyalty is to Sean.

“It will be good for jump racing if the two of them stay injury-free until the end of the season and have a good tussle.”

Asked to sum up Roccovango’s chance, Murphy said: “He’s a new recruit who had some nice novice form. I’d like to think he’s got a nice each-way chance.

“Harry Derham’s horse (Nordic Tiger) will be hard to beat escaping a penalty for winning last week, but I’d like to think my lad could be competitive and it would be magic if we can give Sean a winner on his first ride back.”