Haydock Saturday

THE Grade 3 Peter Marsh Chase was something of a curate’s egg, with the exciting Royale Pagaille (Venetia Williams/Tom Scudamore) expected to have his mettle tested by Sam Brown and Sam’s Adventure, but the former didn’t turn up and the latter unseated his rider when travelling well, meaning the race has limited relevance.

On the flip side, the favourite ended up beating the consistent Potter’s Legend (Lucy Wadham/Jack Quinlan) by an easy 16 lengths conceding 20lb, so it’s hard not to be impressed by the 11/5 winner, who had bolted up at Kempton over Christmas.

Royale Pagaille remains a novice, so has plenty of options at Cheltenham, but the handicapper has understandably put him up to an official mark of 166, and with that putting him close to the top of the rankings of British staying chasers, connections must be tempted by the Gold Cup, especially as the Festival Novices’ Chase (formerly RSA) sees the same owner’s Monkfish as favourite.

My feeling is that he’s gained his huge rating rather cheaply, and no serious questions had to be asked of him against a pair who were racing from out of the handicap, and would normally qualify for 0-135 handicaps.

That’s a far cry from the talent he’ll face in a Gold Cup, but as Coneygree showed a few years ago, sometimes striking while the iron’s hot is your best policy; those irons don’t stay hot for long, after all.

The Grade 2 New One Hurdle was no Champion Hurdle Trial despite the race’s traditional title, and with Ballyandy looking flat from flag-fall, this was a match between a race-fit rival with a battle plan, and a returning champion whose main aim was to come back in one piece.

Buveur D’Air may have been put in at prohibitive odds, but the fact that Nicky Henderson was delighted with his effort to be beaten four and a quarter lengths by a rival rated 149 who was giving him weight tells its own story.

Navajo Pass (Donald McCain/Sean Quinlan), fourth in the 2020 Triumph, was set about his work to make use of his fitness and slick hurdling, and he did just that, pinging the first three to set up a useful lead and maintaining the gallop to the line. His one heart-in-mouth moment was a blunder at the last which looked to let the favourite in, but he galloped on strongly to justify a mini-gamble which saw him returned at 4/1.

The winner isn’t engaged at Cheltenham, but could go for the County Hurdle, while the Aintree Hurdle was mooted as a possibility, whereas Buveur D’Air is reported to be on track to reappear in the Champion Hurdle, where he bids to regain his crown.

With favourite Llandinabo Lad flopping, and runner-up Minella Drama (Don McCain/Sam Twiston-Davies) skygazing when in front after the last, this was perhaps a fortuitous win for Dan Skelton’s 7/1 shot Faivoir, but credit is due to the trainer and to jockey Bridget Andrews for taking the opportunity of a Grade 2 success with both hands.

Minella Drama made most of the running, and looked sure to win jumping the last, but he has shown signs of temperament before by flashing his tail, and he failed to put the race to bed when asked.

Faivoir is more of a stayer on paper, and he needed no second chance when presented with a winning opportunity, poking his nose in front close home to score by a neck.

This wasn’t a vintage renewal of the Rossington Main, with the winner rated 131 and the runner-up 134 coming into the race, but the winner’s performance is backed up by a solid enough time figure to suggest he and the runner-up had improved, albeit not enough to cause any ripples in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle betting. Faivoir is a point winner by a top-class stayer in Coastal Path, so he should progress with time, distance, and perhaps a fence.