Matt Brocklebank recommends a little controlled breathing as he builds up to the famous Cheltenham roar on day one of the 2018 Festival.
Easier said than done if you're in the Gloucestershire region, but find a quiet spot and sit still for a moment.
Let your senses relax and allow that excited mind to stand at ease. Slowly inhale. Feel your chest heave as it reaches capacity, then release.
A breath of fresh air can be so fleeting in sport - see Blackpool FC under Ian Holloway; Chemmy Alcott on the Beeb; Theo Walcott's Everton revival.
And yet after emerging from the icy onset of the month to stand on the brink of four days of hair-raising activity at Cheltenham, the term could hardly feel less trite.
It's almost show-time and, frankly, who knows what will unfold on these rolling hills, but participants, and the rest of us alike, would do well to steel themselves with at least a minute or two of peace.
If mind over matter is your Festival forte, then on day one you're going to require a bit of Brain Power.
What’s the matter? Well, he’s struggled with his jumping.
Never mind, says Nicky Henderson, the most successful Cheltenham Festival trainer of all time. "He was much the best of these over hurdles."
A slightly fanciful assertion, but not as far wide of the mark as you may have first thought.
According to the professional number-crunchers who assign official ratings to our professional carrot-munchers, at the end of last season there was precious little between the Racing Post Arkle favourite Footpad, his Irish compatriot Petit Mouchoir, and the somewhat mercurial Brain Power.
And they didn’t stack in that order, either.
Footpad weighed in 3lb shy of the pair, whose 160 ratings matched one another, and stood up to close scrutiny. So from his overall body of work as a hurdler we know Brain Power has got the power.
But what of his brain?
Prolonged periods of thought aren't always a good thing for the equine stars in this weird and wonderful game, and a spot of pondering may have contributed to Brain Power's novice chase form figures of 1UF.
'UF' might accurately reflect the noise Henderson made when seeing his charge crash out at Ascot in January, but it turned out the noise made by the horse mid-race was more of a gurgle, and he’s since had a visit from the Wind Surgeon.
So what chance 1UF becomes 1UF1, via the WS1 route?
A few big breaths when it matters most may now at least be more of a possibility for this talented performer, whose sizeable engine cut out sharply after the going got tough in the Clarence House Chase, and seemingly at Sandown in December before that.
He’s in the hottest race of the day – one of the hottest of the week in spite of the relatively small field – but a wind operation could certainly help give him more air, in his lungs and at his obstacles, and a clear round with a clear trachea may ultimately leave his backers the ones to cope with a more pleasing form of breathlessness.
* Matt Brocklebank will be blogging live from the track on Tuesday and Wednesday, with Ben Linfoot taking over for the final two days of the meeting *
It is a brilliant day, right through from an intriguing Sky Bet Supreme at 1.30 to the annual Rubix Cube that comes in the shape of the Close Brothers Novices' Handicap Chase.
Mix in two rock-solid, reigning champions in the OLBG Mares' Hurdle and Unibet Champion Hurdle, and the 2018 Cheltenham Festival can only begin with a bang.
Literal translation of Buveur D’Air? Drinker of air.
Still breathing deeply? It's becoming more difficult isn't it? With any luck, the pulse has quickened, the senses now heightened.
Take another great gulp of oxygen. I suspect we’re all ready to roar.
