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Paul Nicholls flanked by his two Gold Cup contenders, Kauto Star and Denman

Nicholls has been leading trainer at the showpiece in mid-March on six occasions in all and on five of the past six occasions. Twice-divorced - he freely admits the horses come first - he is a fiercely competitive workaholic who counts as a close friend.

Standing in his first-floor office, looking improbably huge, imposing and slightly stern-faced in a bright red bomber jacket and framed by a window that looks too small, there is Nicholls. And there, in the boxes immediately beneath his gaze, are Kauto Star and Denman.

Kauto adores the cameras and the attention in general, playing peek-a-boo like a toddler as he pokes his head out of his box for a few seconds before disappearing inside again.

They say French-bred horses begin to get a bit long in the tooth by 10. But when Nicholls later tells everyone this remarkable creature, who has already won £2m in prize money, can win the Gold Cup for three more seasons after this one, the horse's obvious enthusiasm and love of life persuades you to believe him.

The contrast with the Irish-bred Denman, whose darker coat typically still has its dull winter feel to it, could not be more stark.

Denman spends the first few minutes defiantly presenting his hind-quarters to the TV crews. "That's just like me telling you lot to eff off," his joint owner , Nicholls' landlord and a champion cheesemaker tells me.

Denman temporarily upset the Kauto Star applecart by beating his next-door neighbour in the 2008 Gold Cup, only for Kauto to wrench back the crown the following season.

This year, the bookmakers have Kauto an odds-on favourite with Denman around 7-2. That looks about right considering Denman has lacked consistency since undergoing treatment in September 2008 for an irregular heartbeat.

Barber shares ownership of Denman with fearless punter , a man who among some huge wins also managed to lose a staggering £2.6m when New Zealand were dumped out of the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

Findlay has other engagements today, and it is left to Barber to admit to some concerns about Denman's chances this time, with the wet weather doing the team no favours as they fine-tune his preparations at home.

"We're desperate to school him but can't, the schooling fences aren't in operation and I can't see them being in operation for a couple of weeks but that'll be alright, I think Paul's got it all organised," he reassures himself.

Barber mentions blinkers as a possibility to get Denman focusing better on the fences: "[Jockey] has talked about it. When he got off the horse after winning the Hennessy [a remarkable weight-carrying success last November] he said to me if you put blinkers on he'll never get beaten again."

On Gold Cup day, Walsh will partner Kauto Star, with Tony McCoy - unseated by Denman on his latest outing - on the second favourite.

One of the most enjoyable features of the day is the moment when Nicholls introduces all his Festival entries, and they are led up, one by one, as the trainer assesses their credentials.

They include former Festival winners and hot favourites for two of the other feature races at Cheltenham, Big Buck's and Master Minded.

Other hopes include Celestial Halo for the Champion Hurdle, a race that looks wide open this year, and , whose 16-1 price for the Arkle could be tempting if the ground dries out.

His lass, Emily Hough, one of more than 50 people employed at the stables, has already experienced the thrill of preparing a Cheltenham Festival winner when American Trilogy won last year's County Hurdle in her first season at Ditcheat.

Clifford Baker, Kauto Star and Paul Barber - three big players at Ditcheat

Looking back on a very special day, she says: "It was Gold Cup day so the parade ring was ram-packed, you couldn't see a blade of grass. The little chap I was with, we were worried he might swing his legs out but he was a very good boy."

Tataniano is a more of a character - "you can't think enough of him but everything's got to be right for him on the day," says Hough.

, meanwhile, will be Nicholls' main hope in the Champion Hurdle, a race he has never won. While the Nicky Henderson-trained fancies for the race have had their problems, Celestial Halo has quietly crept back into consideration as a lively outsider.

"It's a very interesting wide-open race this year," says Clifford Baker, Nicholls' head lad. "I don't think it's a burning ambition but we'd love to win a Champion Hurdle and a Grand National. They've both eluded us, we've been second in both."

Returning to what will be the third duel between Kauto Star and Denman for the Gold Cup on 19 March, Baker says: "The best horse will win on the day. I do ride Kauto out every day so I lean towards that way a bit, but I'm happy with either one winning it.

"Kauto looks fantastic, equally as well as he did this time last year, if not slightly better. He is that sort of horse that seems to look after himself quite well."

The compliment trips easily off his tongue, but it is only because of the dedicated hard work put in by Baker - the first to arrive at the stables every morning, - and so many others that these horses appear in such terrific shape.

If Nicholls does not end up as the Festival's top trainer yet again this time it will be a big shock indeed.