IT doesn’t seem two minutes ago that Paul Hanagan and Richard Hughes were fighting out the jockey’s championship at Doncaster on the final day of the Flat season.

A massive crowd was there to watch Hanagan win that epic battle, and a massive crowd is expected at Doncaster this afternoon when the racecourse stages their feature jump race of the season, The Sky Bet Chase.

As ever, it has attracted a fiercely competitive line-up, with 19 runners facing the starter and Malcolm Jefferson has a solid chance of taking the valuable prize with the very progressive King Fontaine.

The eight-year-old, son of King’s Theatre, is looking for his fifth straight win and has the services of Graham Lee who has ridden the gelding to his last couple of victories.

Owned by top owner Trevor Hemmings, King Fontaine could make up into a Grand National horse in due course and Graham Lee is looking forward to the hat-trick bid, saying: “He was meant to run at Haydock last weekend but that was abandoned due to the weather which might be a blessing as the ground at Doncaster will suit him a lot better.

“He an uncomplicated horse and with Malcolm’s running so well at the minute he must have a good chance.”

Wogan, unbeaten in two starts at Doncaster, could run well for Nicky Henderson and Andrew Tinkler.

He is closely matched with King Fontaine on their Haydock run and clearly likes this track.

There is also a cracking seven race card at Cheltenham with plenty of Festival clues throughout the day.

Howard Johnson runs his stable star Tidal Bay in the feature race, the Argento Chase, at 2.30pm. Although he has run well here in the past, and ran a cracking race last time out at Haydock behind Imperial Commander, preference is for the Nicky Henderson trained Punchestowns.

Runner-up in the World Hurdle at the festival two years ago, he ran with credit on his comeback run at Newbury last month despite finishing second at very short odds.

With his stable in top form, he can take this on his way to the RSA Chase in March in which many people are already talking of him as there nap for the prestigious meeting.

Champion jockey AP McCoy has a solid book of rides today, none more so than Backspin who can take the Neptune Investment Management Novices’ Hurdle at 3.05pm.

Running in the famous green and yellow hoops of J P McManus, Backspin is unbeaten in three starts and was ultra impressive when landing the Grade 1 Challow Hurdle at Newbury last time out.

With Grand National winner Don’t Push It and Champion Hurdle winner Binocular also carrying the colours, Backspin has got a lot to live up to but people very close to the Jonjo O’Neill yard think he is more than capable of holding his own against the best of them.