RACING: Brian O'Connor visits the stables of Michael Hourigan as he prepares a new star and an old warrior for Cheltenham

It's put to Michael Hourigan that the Gold Cup is between Best Mate and Beef Or Salmon and the dark, shrewd face momentarily furrows as he formulates an appropriate answer.

"B*****ks - Press talk. Doesn't mean a thing." Said with all the certitude of a man who has been down a familiar path before and recognises the thorns waiting on the verge that can make his life more difficult.

In 1997 and '98 the questions were the same but the horse was different.

Dorans Pride carried the hopes of a nation that believes steeplechasing's blue riband is its by right and yet have come out on top just twice in 25 years. The questioners were incessant, minus only a Gestapo lamp to point into his face.

"What would winning mean to you?" "Do you really think he can do it?" "How long have you waited for this?" For a man not immediately identifiable as the navel gazing type, it was all a bit much. Dorans Pride twice finished third and afterwards the questions dried up. Hourigan wasn't sure which was the better state of affairs. Until now, that is.

Dorans Pride goes back to Cheltenham on Thursday for the Foxhunter, the ideal opportunity for a veteran 14-year-old who hated retirement to get one more blast of glory.

During the week the old boy appeared to bask in the reflections of the cameras at Hourigan's stable. No one, certainly not those closest to him, were going to tell him it was the youngster next door that was provoking the invasion. His trainer wouldn't have it. Now everything is on his terms.

"No offence lads, but it was a pain in the arse the last time. Every day there was a camera crew coming down and we'd have to pull the horse out. Or then they couldn't come and we'd have to get ready another day. Anything goes now right?

The little man who has built up a 90-stable industry in the heart of rural Limerick has been twinkling rather a lot in the last few months as Beef Or Salmon has launched himself as "the next big thing" from Ireland.

There have been a few of those over the years. Carvills Hill, Florida Pearl, even Dorans Pride at his peak: All great horses who fell short of the Gold Cup grail. But wheras Dorans inspires affection, Beef Or Salmon provokes more than just a little awe.

On the back of his Hennessy Gold Cup victory last month, Hourigan privately declared Beef Or Salmon to be a two stone better horse than Dorans Pride.

For the anoraks out there, that would make him only just about this side of Pegasus. Hourigan is reminded of the comment and doesn't flinch.

"I won't back from that." Which is why quiet mornings on the borders of Patrickswell and Adare have turned a bit more show-bizzy than anyone in the yard, bar Dorans Pride of course, can remember for quite a while. Everyone wants a slice of the up and comer and no horse is more on the up right now.

Hourigan's misfortune is that Beef Or Salmon really is a newspaper god-send in terms of angles. He's the unbeaten youngster with his eye on the champ, ridden by the jockey on the comeback trail and with the grizzled former star as his next door neighbour.

Throw in how his sire was so unsuccessful that he is now soaking up the son in Sardinia or how his owners picked him up for a song and it's no wonder the phone has been white hot for months. There is also the wider angle.

Even though Hourigan hates it, the impending clash with Best Mate conjures up all sorts of memories of previous Anglo-Irish clashes: Monksfield v Sea Pigeon, Dawn Run and Wayward Lad, maybe even, Arkle and Mill House themselves.

It's a helluva burden to carry but Hourigan's attitude is "been there and done that". Mind you he doesn't appear to be exactly wilting under the pressure or anything.

"Lisselan Prince bought this lads," he booms as he takes the camera wielding mob past the horse swimming pool. "He won two point to points and when we was sold, I built this." A line of schooling fences further up the hill were secured "20 years ago and didn't cost a penny." Hourigan admits he sometimes quails at the idea of going to the races but would travel anywhere to buy a horse. It's the deal that's important. In the past he has spent hundreds rather than thousands on horses and seen them win. At Goffs four years ago he bought into gold for just £6,500.

It's easy to spot Beef Or Salmon as he canters around the three-furlong woodchip gallop. For one thing he never leaves Dorans Pride's side and another is that he really does have a bit of presence about him.

Floating over the surface, he keeps a watchful eye on the unaccustomed crowd without ever breaking sweat or stride. Eight times he circles, covering three miles without hardly knowing it: pulling up, he wouldn't blow out a candle.

"Good horses know they are good in my opinion. And he knows," says the trainer, standing for photographs between "Padjo" and "Salmon". Beef Or Salmon has been better than good all season, unbeaten and unstretched.

"I suppose I might worry about crowding with 15 or 16 runners but once the first mile is out of the way, Timmy (Murphy) will be able to organise him. They may jump a bit quicker than he is used to but I think he will be the better for that. The Cheltenham fences are a plus because they are so well presented. He could take them in his stride," says Hourigan.

Harder to take in stride is the public expectation surrounding the horse. Desperate for a new Gold Cup hero to adore, the Irish racing public have invested a lot of faith in the rising star. It's something that has hit home.

"I noticed it when he won the Hennessy. The train up from Killarney was full. The whole area around here went up. In fact they got on the train in Charleville to make sure they got on," he remembers.

That Hennessy put the seal on a reputation that has sky-rocketed since Beef Or Salmon was first put over fences at Clonmel in November. He has continued to play games with his seniors ever since and so much now depends on the quality of the horses he has been beating.

If the likes of Colonel Braxton and Harbour Pilot are genuinely top drawer, then Beef Or Salmon could indeed be something of freak. If they're not a severe wake up call may be waiting at the festival.

"I don't know what else he can do. He has won his race and won them with authority. Bar having a duel with Best Mate he can do nothing else," Hourigan says.

Ah, that Best Mate, the reigning champ and the one that the home team can't see getting beat by an inexperienced novice, however big his reputation.

"All I know is that my horse has the potential to win a Gold Cup. But the best horse doesn't always win it. When Cool Dawn won (1998) I knew I had the best horse but I was only third. That happens a lot. Look at Sirrell Griffiths' old horse (Nortons Coin). There could easily be another one like him or Cool Dawn out there. See More Business for instance isn't out of it at all," he declares.

And yet however hard he argues, it's hard to escape the conclusion that Hourigan will be a very disappointed man come 4.00 on Thursday if he isn't standing in the Gold Cup winner's enclosure. The confidence he generates isn't flamboyant but it's all the more contagious for that. But if it isn't to happen no one will be able to take defeat better.

"For the last 10 years, ever since Dorans Pride came on the scene, I adore every minute of every day in this job. I'm waiting most mornings to get up at 6.45. Rain, hail, snow, sick head, it doesn't matter, I love what I do.

"And if things get bad, all I have to do is look at a photo of my first winner, Ramrajya, at home. It took seven years to get that winner. I look at that and I know things can be that f****ing bad at all," he says.

Who's to say the job might not get even better.