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And suddenly, the 2011 Cheltenham Festival is over. The detritus of the week strewn across Prestbury Park, the sun setting in the distance, the turf pocked full of divots and records of what had just been, a few winners and so many losers. A few dreams attained, so many slashed.

Half time. Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Two down, two to go. World Hurdle, Gold Cup still to go. Big Buck’s today. Kauto Star, Imperial Commander, Denman tomorrow. Four days? I’d take five.

As for Thursday’s card, it goes like this…

Ruby is back. Ten days into a comeback from breaking is leg, the leading Cheltenham jockey in history added to his total with an efficient and motional triple to open the Cheltenham Festival. A cool and calculating ride on Al Ferof to upset the Supreme, a cool and calculating ride on Hurricane Fly to win the Champion Hurdle and – you guessed it – a cool and calculating ride on Quevega in the David Nicholson.

Accountants use April 15. Decent husbands and wives use anniversaries. Christians, or at least shoppers, use Christmas. Kids use the first day of school – or the last – depending on their penchant for education. I use Cheltenham (and Saratoga but that’s not until summer) to mark the inarguable, block-off-the-calendar, passage of time.

OK, the time has come. I can no longer read the calendar on the back of the NSA condition book. Well, I can read it but I have to stretch my arms out until the words (they’re pretty small) come into focus. I used to read it just fine – picked it up, turned it over and checked the schedule – Aiken, Camden, Stoneybrook and so on…

Churchill Downs is a long way from Fair Hill, but by 6 o’clock Saturday evening, they might be a little bit closer as Fair Hill-based Toby’s Corner starts in Aqueduct’s Gotham, the Northeast’s first serious step toward the Kentucky Derby.

The Grade III stakes, worth $250,000, counts Native Dancer, Dr. Fager, Secretariat, Easy Goer and some others with lofty achievements such as Lure, Red Bullet, Thirty Six Red, Private Terms, General Assembly and Gone West. Saturday’s nine runners look to jump into the Derby conversation – dominated thus far by 3-year-olds in warmer climate zones – with another step forward. Toby’s Corner has won three in a row for owner/breeder Diane Cotter and trainer Graham Motion. The son of Bellamy Road (also bred by Cotter) comes off a triumph in the Whirlaway over the track last month and is the 5-2 second choice on the morning line.

It was like talking to my dad and my high-school guidance counselor all at the same time. He’d lean in like he had a secret and then, in his best parental/counselor voice, he’d say, “Now, Sean …” When I was a jockey, it was about winning the race because he could really use the money. Later, it was some lesson or some mission.

Did you see this week’s edition of The Blood-Horse? I’m sure Publishing 101 says to be careful about praising the other guy too much, but Anne Eberhardt’s photo of Michael Blowen and Marquetry playing in a field at Old Friends will brighten even the darkest of winter days. You have to see it – click here and smile.

Thirty-one years since upsetting the Grand National with 40-1 invader Ben Nevis, America’s Charlie Fenwick will return to Aintree Racecourse to ride in the Bob Champion Cancer Trust fundraiser. The flat race will be carded as the first race on the John Smith’s Grand National card April 9,

Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred’s Looking Back section goes into the magazine’s history and stops at 10, 25 and 50 years ago.

I rarely look, but glanced at the page in the latest edition and laughed. Ten years ago, February 2001, a Mid-Atlantic article profiled the region’s top jockeys Clinton Potts, Mark Johnston, Ramon Dominguez and Travis Dunkelberger. They finished second, third, fourth and fifth in the nation in terms of victories.