The recent heavy rain may not have been welcomed by everyone but it’s certainly pleased those involved in jumps racing.

“It’s come at just the right time, that’s the most important thing,” said Chris Coley, who is the business partner of Guiting Power-based trainer Fergal O’Brien.

Coley expects O’Brien, who at the time of writing had 25 winners this season, to have two or three runners at Newbury this weekend and the same number at Bangor.

Coley has seven horses in training with O’Brien through the Yes No Wait Sorries partnership which he runs – he has an eighth in training with O’Brien’s near neighbour Nigel Twiston-Davies – and is looking to return to the winner’s enclosure for the first time since early summer.

“Jarveys Plate will run on Friday next week at Exeter,” said Coley. “He’s a novice hurdler and we like him, he’s one of the stable favourites. He’s run over hurdles once before and finished third.”

Coley’s last winner was Grageelagh Girl at Newton Abbot and he is certainly upbeat about O’Brien’s prospects for the rest of the season.

“The aim is to beat last year’s total of 60 winners and although we’re slightly behind where we were this time last season that’s been largely due to the weather. We haven’t seen some of the better young horses yet.”

Coley, meanwhile, remains hopeful that O’Brien will soon get the go-ahead from Cotswold District Council to move his training yard a few miles down the road in the Cotswolds.

“Hopefully it’s all on track,” added Coley. “The plan is to move onto land between Withington and Compton Abdale which belongs to Rupert Lowe, the former chairman of Southampton.”