With Cheltenham swiftly approaching the months seem to be racing by

The organiser John and his band of dedicated loyal grafters had come up with some brilliant ideas to entertain the 250 guests throughout the evening.

He had unearthed a video of the hunting year filmed in 2008, including footage of the point to point in May and the puppy show in August, all projected on the dining room wall during the evening.

Many of the faces were present to see themselves, others sadly were not. We all had a shriek or a chuckle at how young the faces looked. The children included my friend Tom’s daughter, six-year-old Louise Bannister, seen bobbing along on her Shetland pony. Next week is her 18th birthday party.

There was a sulky-looking Harry Bannister, who at 14 years of age looked like he’d prefer to be anywhere else other than out hunting with his two younger brothers in tow.

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The reluctant Harry is now a professional jump jockey. The moment caught on film over a decade earlier was made even more poignant as Harry had ridden a 33-1 outsider to win the big race at Haydock, the Grand National Trial, earlier in the day.

With Cheltenham swiftly approaching, the months seem to be racing by. The Festival preview evenings are creating an exciting build-up.

Harry will be attending one at Coniston Hotel near Gargrave on March 2 alongside ex-trainer Henrietta Knight and Brian Hughes, who is keeping the northern flag burning in his bid for the jockey’s title.

Brian is 17 winners clear of the injured defending champion Richard Johnson. Another evening is arranged for March 6 at Sedgefield racecourse where jockeys Sean Quinlan and Danny Cook join Micky Hammond and Phil Kirby to discuss their selections.

Phil has the brave-hearted Yorkshire mare Lady Buttons entered for the Festival. I saw her regular jockey, Adam Nicol, at Jack Berry House on Wednesday where he was doing rehab after breaking two vertebrae at Christmas. He has high hopes of a return in time to ride her for Cheltenham.

The six-foot jockey has been hugely unlucky, he missed nine months with a broken leg in 2019 and returned to win an emotional race at Wetherby aboard the brilliant mare. I asked him how things were going.

“Ah, I’ve come back for her (Lady Buttons) before and I’ll do it again,” Adam told me defiantly.

Details for preview nights www. coniston hotel.com and www.sedgefield- racecourse

With Cheltenham swiftly approaching the months seem to be racing by - Jo Foster