As Jose Mourinho strode out of his old stomping ground on Sunday after a performance synonymous with his 'can't win, don't lose' mentality, so the title race mind games began.
'We are not even in the race. We are not a horse,' the Tottenham boss asserted, fooling nobody. 'I don't know what the word is. We are the small, young horses. We are just a pony.'
Now, eagle-eyed Mourinho fans - does this sound familiar? Because he has used the horse-race analogy before, in playing down his team's aspirations of becoming Premier League champions.