It’s that time of year when you can almost hear the horses’ hooves at the home of National Hunt racing.

The first meeting of the season at Cheltenham Racecourse is just around the corner and the excitement is already starting to build.

The Showcase meeting on 27th and 28th October kicks off proceedings for the 2017/18 season and is quickly followed by the hugely popular November meeting – three days of quality racing from the 17th to 19th which for many is when the jumps season really starts to get serious.

The two-day meeting in December – 15th and 16th – is another highlight, of course, and the first day of January in Gloucestershire wouldn’t feel right without the increasingly popular New Year’s Day meeting.

That’s followed by Festival Trials Day at the end of the month on the 27th, before the four-day racing spectacular in March – 13th-16th – that is the Cheltenham Festival.

For jockey Aidan Coleman, like everyone else involved in the sport, the heart beats just that bit more quickly when a Cheltenham meeting comes around.

“Yes, it’s a special place,” he said. “Whenever you go there you feel that extra something. It’s such a great atmosphere. Obviously, the Cheltenham Festival is the highlight and it can make or break your season. You can be having an average season but get a couple of winners there and everything changes.

“Equally if you’re having a good season but then have a disappointing Festival, things can feel very different.”

These days The Showcase meeting – on the Friday and Saturday of the schools half-term – is very well supported.

“It’s like all the major events in any sport,” said Coleman. “When you get the top people competing against each other you can’t beat it. It’s always good racing because you get the top horses, top jockeys and top trainers all there.

“With regards to The Showcase meeting it obviously depends a bit on what the ground is like.

“The softer the ground the more good horses are likely to be racing.”

The 29-year-old Coleman, who these days is based with Jonjo O’Neill at Jackdaws Castle, has been churning out the winners for a good number of years now.

Last season he was among the best in the land in the Jump Jockeys Championship behind champion Richard Johnson and he is again up among the leading jockeys this time around.

“This season is going very well,” said Coleman. “I’m very happy with it.”

Put him on the spot and ask him whether it’s the top races or the jockeys’ title that he’d like to win most and he’s understandably non-committal.

“I just want to get better and better,” he said. “I want to build on last season but I think the two do go hand in hand. If you’re winning races you’re going to be in with a chance of winning the title but Richard Johnson is a very good champion and a hard man to beat.

“You never know what the future holds. It’s a hard game but I want to continue doing what I’m doing. I feel in a good place at the moment.”

Being in a good place has a lot to do with working for O’Neill, of course.

“He’s a top trainer,” said Coleman of his fellow Irishman. “He was a top jockey and he’s been hugely successful for many years.”