Paul Nicholls: “I thought the Order of Merit was very well received last year and we were thrilled to win the £50,000 top chaser award with Azertyuiop. We also had a number of other horses in the top half of the overall leaderboard and I hope that we can win the overall series this season. I would think my main players for this coming season will be Kauto Star, My Will, Le Roi Miguel, Sleeping Night and Royal Auclair.”

Alan King: “We enjoyed the Order of Merit last season with Crystal d’Ainay and I thought it was well received. The Graded races seemed to be even more competitive and well supported. I think that it is an initiative that will grow in popularity year on year. Crystal d’Ainay would be our main hope at this stage but you never know what might come out of the cupboard.”

Sue Smith: “We will very much be considering the Order of Merit as we make running plans for our horses and hope that we have one good enough to win it.”

Howard Johnson: “We were obviously thrilled to win the first Order of Merit with Inglis Drever, it was a great effort by all of my team here and I was thrilled that they were rightly rewarded for all their hard work. We will certainly be targeting the Order of Merit series again with horses like Mephisto, No Refuge and Inglis Drever.”

Noel Meade: “I will certainly take the Order of Merit into account when planning Harchibald’s season but his participation in races like the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle and the Christmas Hurdle at Sandown Park will very much depend on the ground. I think it is a good initiative and well worth winning.”

Jonjo O’Neill: “I will definitely support the Order of Merit this season given the right type of horse. I think it is a great idea and Iris’s Gift would be a suitable horse for this kind of initiative.”