Ben Pauling can rightly look back on last season with an immense amount of pride for more than one reason.

Not only did the Naunton Downs handler secure 94 winners, a new personal best domestic tally in a single campaign, but it also saw him raise the bar regarding prize-money levels after amassing £1,601,111, which was a record amount.

And, for the first time ever, Pauling enjoyed a 20 percent strike rate such were the levels of consistency displayed by his team throughout the campaign.

Victory for Meetmebythesea in the Grade Two Jack Richards Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival was the culmination of a well-mapped out plan coming together in perfect fashion.

However, it was the thrilling last-gasp victory secured by the Harry Redknapp-owned The Jukebox Man in the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day that was the ultimate showstopper.

Although he has been dealt the blow of being without the son of Ask for the first half of the season, Pauling still has plenty of useful ammunition to come to the fore in the absence of his stable flagbearer.

And while the tallies set last season means that Pauling will have to raise the bar again, it would take a brave person to bet him against doing so given the calibre of his team.

Pauling said: “It was a great season. The horses were healthy pretty much throughout. A few of the horses we hoped would win decent races went on and did that. That was capped with The Jukebox Man winning the King George as that was a very special day. It was such a hyped up race beforehand and it turned out to be an absolute belter of a race.

“It was great to win what I would class as our first Classic in the jumps world. It meant a lot to everybody.

“Meetmebythesea turned up when we wanted him at the Cheltenham Festival so overall I will look back at last season as a very satisfying one. There are always things you can look back at and tweak and change, but that is training racehorses as you don’t get it right every time.

“It has allowed us to move forward again with purchasing other horses, and we have had a lot of support from our owners going into this season. We are equally as happy and excited as we could be.”