That particular honour is believed to belong to Daniel Defoe, who as well as being rightly honoured as the world's first proper journalist, is also famous for inventing the character of Robinson Crusoe and marooning him for 28 years in the South Atlantic.

This is a little ironic, because if horse racing is your business, or even your pleasure, then you would need to have spent much of your recent life on a desert island not to have realised that there was in fact a third certainty in life all the time, and it is this. Today at Fairyhouse racecourse some of the unknown young horses racing against each other are destined to become the familiar stars of National Hunt racing scene for years to come.

The generosity of this afternoon's prize fund once again calls in to question the increasingly bizarre obsession of building a horse's programme around a single race at Cheltenham in March when there are so many other ripe and juicy fruits just waiting to be picked.

The nominal highlight of the 'winter festival' is today's Hatton's Grace hurdle in which the usual suspects in this golden age of Irish hurdling such as Brave Inca, Asian Maze and Al Eile renew their now perpetual rivalry in a disappointingly small field.

While this race alone is probably enough reason to travel to Co Meath, most of the real value will be found in the expectation of seeing the future unfold in the present in the two supporting grade one races, the Bar-one Racing Royal Bond novice Hurdle and the Ballymore Properties Drinmore Novice Chase.

Watching novice races such as these is like attending a college hurling match in Kilkenny or an under-16 soccer cup final in Rio de Janeiro. You know you are probably present at the origination of greatness, but are not quite sure of the extent of it or where exactly it will come from.

It is clear, however, from previous results at this Fairyhouse fixture that greatness is there, just waiting to be discovered.

Ten years ago this very weekend, the Royal Bond attracted a promising young novice hurdler who had been beaten in his only start over the sticks. He was still rated highly enough to start a short priced favourite and duly won impressively. Four Cheltenham victories, a couple of ballads and thousands of hangovers later, Istabraq was happily retired to graze on the lush grass at his owner's estate in Limerick.

It was only to be three years before the next triple Cheltenham winner prevailed and in contrast to 'Isty', Moscow Flyer's immortality was to lie over the big fences.

Then remarkably, another three years later Hardy Eustace prevailed in the same race before he too went on to secure three victories, to date, at the Cotswold festival. The latest hooves to pound the golden three year treadmill belong to last year's winner, Iktithaf, and he too looks to be well capable of continuing the trend, especially if Noel Meade doesn't tell him of the pressure he is under.

Yet the quality of these winners tells only half of the story. Other victors in the last 10 years include Feathered Leader who was placed in the Irish Grand National, Alexander Banquet who was the Hennessey Gold Cup winner at Leopardstown, and the reigning two-mile Champion Chase winner, Newmill, who won the race two years ago.

As usual, today's event looks to be teeming with potential candidates for future greatness but even in a high-class field such as this there is one that stands out.

Edward O'Grady trained perhaps the best novice hurdler of all time, the ill-fated Golden Cygnet who died in a fall when just about to give weight and a beating to several winners of the Champion Hurdle.

Edward saddles the favourite today, Clopf, unbeaten in two starts over hurdles and who together with stable mate Catch Me and Meade's Aran Concerto sits at the top of what may turn out to be a vintage generation of Irish novices.

Unlike Golden Cygnet, Clopf is unlikely to ever start a short price in the beautiful names competition. Called after the polypropylene fibres that are used in some artificial racing surfaces he may just be forgiven his unfortunate moniker if he wins today in the manner of some of his illustrious predecessors.

The Drinmore Chase has for years been a stepping stone for good chasers without ever throwing up champions with the regularity of the Royal Bond. While horses of the calibre of Le Coudray and Harbour Pilot have been recent winners, the last real superstar to emerge from the contest was the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner See More Business who was second to the almost equally brilliant Doran's Pride 10 years ago.

The field for the race today doesn't have any obvious stand-out prospects but does include a horse named after a man who rivals even Mark Twain for immortal quotes. O'Muircheartaigh, like Clopf, is trained by O'Grady and the trainer is confident that both his stars are fit and well, and ready for the move to the next level. The real clue to O'Muircheartaigh's prospects for greatness, however, is not found in his most recent form or today's performance. On this day last year he started favourite but was beaten into second in that kindergarten of immortals, the Royal Bond hurdle.

If he wins today he will shorten considerably in price to win the Sun Alliance or Arkle Chase at next year's Cheltenham festival. It will also help shorten the winter to look forward to the English racing announcers' attempts to wrap their tongues around the pronunciation of the great commentator's name. The result of that one is very far from a certainty.