You could have forgiven the Tote for dividing their Ten To Follow competition for the 2021/22 Jumps season into two divisions. One exclusively for the Irish-trained horses, the other for the British.

After all, they seemed to operate on different planes last season, with the Irish winning almost everything at the Cheltenham Festival, a meeting which goes a long way to determining the Tote Ten Follow winner. For good measure, they also won another pivotal race, the Randox the Grand National, via Minella Times.

But the Tote have resisted rubbing salt into the British wounds by making any distinction and as a consequence I fancy many lists, mine included, will be loaded heavily with Irish runners.

Many of you will be familiar with the Ten To Follow format, but newcomers are best advised to imagine themselves as trainers who have the luxury of cherry-picking ten horses to put in their stable.

And before selecting the first ten in the Cheltenham Gold Cup ante-post betting, be aware that you want runners for as many divisions as possible, giving hope of picking up points here, there, and everywhere over the next five months or so. Get it right, and a huge first prize could be yours depending on how many people play with a minimum £100,000 up for grabs.

As I mentioned last year, this competition rewards quality and forward thinking. The winners of the Grade One prizes are awarded the most points and then there are 21 bonus races – many of the biggest contests of the Jumps season - where extra points are on offer.

Find the winner of a Grade One race (25 points) which is also in the bonus department (another 25 points) and you are instantly looking at a minimum 50-point haul, as opposed to the 10 points on offer for winning “ordinary” races.

There’s no room for the bread-and-butter horses here, unless you expect them to rattle up a sequence of victories, or win at massive odds somewhere down the line. Honeysuckle was the top points earner last time with 132.94, followed by Shishkin (132.72), Monkfish (119.08), Abacadabras (102.92), My Drogo (98.6), Frodon (95.8), Appreciate It (95.46), Colreevy (91.82), Chantry House (91.4) and Minella Indo (83.3).

The key is to try and cover as many bases as you can among those 21 bonus races - a third of them taking place at the Cheltenham Festival. It’s where the competition will be won and lost. And if you can find horses who are going to run regularly, then so much the better.

Last year, my list included three of the top ten in Honeysuckle, Minella Indo and Shishkin, while Chacun Pour Soi (76.74) and Envoi Allen also paid their way. But Epatante and Paisley Park didn’t come up to scratch after making early gains, while Altior, Cyrname, and Saint Roi were all passengers. And passengers are no good to anyone.

The winning stable last year was Tipperwood, who accumulated 860.32 points. He or she found four of the top 10 points earners plus had a solid B Team, although Epatante (30.02 points) and Fury Road (23.32) were also part of that winning squad. Every horse contributed, and that is vital.

There is a transfer window just before the Cheltenham Festival, where you can swap two of your team, and that is worth remembering because your stable will be involved in a separate mini-league over those magical four days. Even if your chances of winning the main prize may have already been extinguished, there is the chance of a consolation prize. Think of Cheltenham, and the monthly awards on offer, as Cup competitions.

At the moment, anything and everything is possible. Don’t worry about the Cups – focus on the League, where there are prizes paid to the first 500.

Get your entries in by 11am on November 13. You can tinker with them up until when the game starts, so late injury news or any change of heart can be accommodated. For as little as £5, it can be a lot of fun. You can also enter one team for free.

*Editor's Note: Andy's original ten, a week ago, included Vanillier but he's had second thoughts.See his reserve selection.

Here are my selections and why they’ve made the team.

Age: 7. Trainer: Willie Mullins

He was exceptional when hammering his Ryanair Chase rivals by 12 lengths in March, having been involved in that epic Festival Novices’ Chase with Champ and Minella Indo 12 months earlier. Willie Mullins initially intimated the King George VI Chase could be his race for this season after the Ryanair, only to then wonder whether he had a Champion Chase prospect on his hands. But I reckon he will reconsider the 3m route after Allaho’s defeat at the hands of Chacun Pour Soi over 2m at Punchestown in late April. I’ll happily take wins in the King George, Ryanair and Melling Chasefrom him, with anything else along the way being a bonus.

Age: 7. Trainer: Willie Mullins

He’s got Arkle Chase winner written all over him after his flawless season over hurdles last term, when he won each of his four races – including three Grade One prizes. He might not have won the strongest renewal of the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle there has been, but he romped home by 24 lengths and looks every inch a horse who will improve again when going over a fence. Willie Mullins has scooped four of the past seven renewals of the Arkle, with Douvan, Un De Sceaux and Footpad each winning three races beforehand – including at least once in Grade One company.

Age: 6. Trainer: Henry de Bromhead

There was a magical moment in the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle when when Bob Olinger cruised upsides Britain’s big hope, Bravemansgame. He looked him in the eye and you can imagine him whispering in his ear “is that all you got” before zooming clear of both him and Gaillard Du Mesnil. watch above. In that moment, we learnt that Bob Olinger is something a bit special and he has all the weapons to excel over fences this season. The Marsh Chase seems a likely Cheltenham destination.

Age: 7. Trainer: Willie Mullins

Three two-mile chasers stand out at this stage: Shiskin, Chacun Pour Soi and Energumene. I cannot justify squeezing all three into my team, so I’m looking to Enurgumene to pick up plenty of points in Ireland, while banking on Shiskin doing the same in Britain. They are going to have to meet eventually, but I can live with that. The exuberant front-runner has won his five races over obstacles by an aggregate of more than 70 lengths, without anything giving him a race. He missed Cheltenham because of a slight setback but showed his wellbeing with a subsequent easy win at Punchestown. There are few more exciting chasers in training.

Age: 7. Trainer: Henry de Bromhead

There was no more popular selection in last year’s Ten To Follow but I can imagine plenty deserting him this time after his travails in the spring. He fell at the fourth in the Marsh Chase, when lining up unbeaten in 11 races and seeking a third successive Cheltenham triumph, and was then pulled up lame at Punchestown, after which he had surgery for a chipped joint. Envoi Allen had been brilliant before his blips and is young enough to resume his climb back towards the top. As he’s the same ownership as Allaho and A Plus Tard, connections will have to decide which path to take with him. There’s plenty of stamina in his pedigree, and he was brought for £400,000 as a four-year-old with the Gold Cup in mind, so I’m thinking he will at least get the chance to prove himself in the staying division. If stamina proves a problem, he can always drop back in distance.

Age: 5. Trainer: Willie Mullins

He excelled when getting on better ground in the spring, winning the Martin Pipe in fluent fashion off a rating of 142 before routing the opposition in the Grade One 3m novice hurdle at Punchestown. Will it be fences or hurdles for him, this term? He’s prominent in the ante-post betting for three races at the Cheltenham Festival – including the Stayers’ Hurdle and Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase. After the Punchestown victory, Mullins said: “He’s very slick over his hurdles. I said to Paul [Townend, his jockey], ‘What did you think?’ and he said he could be a Stayers’ Hurdle candidate. I like to go chasing with them quickly. We’ll see.” I’ve a hunch he will be heading over fences but, wherever he goes, I want to be with him. He seems an obvious contender to pick up plenty of points whichever direction he goes in.

Age: 7. Trainer: Henry de Bromhead

Hardly original, is she? But why would you want to leave out last year’s top points accumulator, who heads into this campaign unbeaten in 12 races. She was clearly the best two-mile hurdler around last term, winning the Irish Champion Hurdle and English equivalent by an aggregate of more than 16 lengths. I don’t see anything coming through the ranks to trouble her, and her connections have stated she stays over hurdles. Appreciate It, the runaway Supreme winner, is set to be unleashed over fences, while the juvenile hurdlers from last season will require a lot more to reach her level. Ferny Hollow is a possible threat, but he’s got to prove his wellbeing. Provided Honeysuckle avoids misfortune, she cannot fail to chalk up a stack of points.

Age: 8. Trainer: Henry de Bromhead

He was a superb winner of a strong Cheltenham Gold Cup last term, having won the Albert Bartlett two years earlier and been perhaps an unlucky loser of the Brown Advisory (then RSA) in between. You cannot knock a horse with that kind of record at Cheltenham and, still only 7, the bad news for his rivals is that the best may still be to come. Minella Indo has a great blend of speed and stamina, and one obstacle to him retaining his Gold Cup crown has already been removed with last year’s leading novice chaser, Monkfish, ruled out for the season. He’s got some unfinished business, too, after his defeats in the Savills Chase and Irish Gold Cup. Those showpiece contests, like the Cheltenham Gold Cup, are bonus races. He might just win them all.

Age: 7. Trainer: Nicky Henderson

I’m sad to say it, but he’s the solitary British-trained horse in my ten. I imagine he will be a banker in most lists, with his only defeat in ten starts coming when an early faller on his hurdling debut at the end of 2019. He went on to win the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle that season, and last term won each of his five races over fences – including the Arkle, and then at Aintree’s Grand National meeting. Like Sprinter Sacre and Altior before him, he is another potential superstar over two miles for his trainer. He’s been pencilled in to return in the Tingle Creek (a bonus race) and I imagine the Grade One Clarence House Chase will also be on his agenda before the Champion Chase.

Age: 6. Trainer: Gavin Cromwell

The grey had a mixed time last season but he was a dazzling winner of the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle, when his winning margin of 11 lengths was the biggest since Wichita Lineman won by a dozen in 2007. It wasn’t the deepest of renewals but he won in striking fashion, relishing the combination of the stamina test and better ground. He wasn’t in the same form at Punchestown next time, but that race unfolded differently and, in any case, he might have still been feeling the effects of his Cheltenham run. Fences beckon for Vanillier this term and he’s going to be an exciting recruit in the staying division. The Brown Advisory seems lkely to be Plan A; the National Hunt Chase Plan B; and Stayers’ Hurdle Plan C. Hopefully, picking up points from him will be as simple as ABC.

**Editor's Note: After Vanillier's defeat on his chasing debut at Down Royal, Andy is taking him out of his list and replacing him with Kilcruit. Andy explained: "Vanillier didn't have a proper cut at his fences, albeit the race was in the sharp side for him and, of course, he might well improve. I'm not writing him off but Kilcruit rates a safer bet. I'm taking Vanillier out and putting Kilcruit in."

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£5/€5.50 per stable in the paid game. Guaranteed min. total prize pool of £100,000 (or € equivalent) with prizes paid for first 500 places (see full terms for details). Maximum one entry per person in the free game for race course membership and ticket prizes. Entries close at 11am GMT 13th November 2021. UK and ROI only. Full Terms and Conditions apply. 18+ Begambleaware.org