A stewardess on the Birmingham flight advised Cheltenham-bound passengers to back something called "Salmon or Beef". We knew what she meant, and no doubt her confusion was evidence of the pressure on Aer Lingus's in-flight catering operation these days.
But punters will be hoping the horse himself turns up in the right order for the festival's main course tomorrow.
As appetisers go, Day One of Cheltenham was just about right. Two well-backed Irish winners made it tasty, while a wipe-out in the big one ensured that it wasn't too filling.
Victory in the festival opener has become a Hibernian tradition, and it continued when Back In Front survived favouritism to win the Supreme Novices' Hurdle.
In fact, the horse drifted in the market late on (possibly after being tipped in The Irish Times by Michael Lowry), as punters plunged on another raider, Kicking King.
Kicking King duly finished second, and that the Irish 1-2 had boosted the State's Gross National Product appeared to be confirmed by the presence of the Minister for Finance in the winner's enclosure.
It got worse for the bookies in the second race, when nearly everybody's idea of the festival banker romped home. This time we could only claim the jockey, Ruby Walsh, but the Irishman achieved an unusually high profile in an English victory. Roars of "C'mon on Ruby" echoed across the Cotswolds, partly because nobody at the course could pronounce the name of the winning horse - Azertyuiop.
It's an accepted fact that the overseas visitors bring the atmosphere to Cheltenham, and this was confirmed by the outcome of the Champion Hurdle. Despite being well backed and owned by a local, the return of Rooster Booster to the winner's enclosure was greeted with the sort of polite applause that you might hear at the funeral of a well-loved actor.
The party resumed half an hour later when J.P McManus's Youlneverwalkalone won an epic battle up the Cheltenham Hill. J.P.'s wife, Noreen, wasn't the better of it as she waited for the victorious party's return to the ring, still catching her breath from the excitement.
"He's made up for a lot with that," said a friend, referring to the sometimes unpredictable horse, not to J.P.
Well-wishers in the winner's enclosure included Ireland's great and good (not to mention rich), Dermot Desmond and Michael Smurfit among them. And for the first time all day, the sun's rays broke through the clouds and enveloped the gathering. "The sun shines on an Irish winner," explained one of the stewards, obviously also struck by the coincidence.
There was even an early Irish leader in the race for the jockey's title, when Barry Geraghty edged the aptly named Inching Closer home by about a nostril for his second win of the day.
Today the focus will be on the Queen Mother Champion Chase. But there will also be major interest in Arctic Copper, the horse owned by a political syndicate including the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
There are so many politicians in Cheltenham they could almost convene a meeting of the Dáil to discuss amendments to the Freedom of Information Bill.