There are plenty of expenses involved in next week’s Cheltenham extravaganza, from flights, accommodation, tickets and liquid inspiration even before a single bet is struck.

So blog followers were happy to see yesterday’s Yankee make a significant dent in expenses thanks to a profit of up to 12 times money staked.

It didn’t start well with a poor pulled up effort, but a third winning nap in four days came via the easy win of Urban Icon (9/4 early, 2/1 SP).

Soon after, old chum The Con Man battled home at Ayr (11/4 early, 5/2 SP), and then it was over to Fairyhouse for the last leg and the well backed Lady McCabe (11/2 early, 7/2 SP) who overcame some patchy hurdling to run out a cosy winner.

Three from four is fine, with a return somewhere between 12/1 at early prices and 7/1 at SP.

Timely stuff…. now where are those binoculars…

Stay tuned for the big Cheltenham week.