SOME of us hoped we might see Great Field at the Cheltenham Festival in the Queen Mother Champion Chase, and that he might even win that, but instead we finally got to see the exciting chaser at Navan last Friday, when he showed all his dash to win the Webster Cup with a 164 timefigure.

However, it has to be wondered if the outcome would have been the same had runner-up Doctor Phoenix (158 timefigure) kept in closer touch: he ran from three out (just over three furlong from the finish) fully 4.0s quicker than Great Field – or nearly 20 lengths – and was still closing, though a length and three quarters down, at the line.

Sectional analysis has Great Field’s finishing speed (as a % of his average race speed) at 95.6%, while Doctor Phoenix’s was 103.5%. Neither performance was optimal, though rather more credit should go to the winner than the runner-up on that score. Let’s hope we see more of Great Field in the remainder of the season.

Neither Castlegrace Paddy nor Jett turned up at Cheltenham, either, but their efforts in finishing first and second in a listed novice chase at Thurles on Saturday suggest they would have given a decent account of themselves if they had. Both get a 146 timefigure, with Jett’s win at this course and distance a month earlier already having received a boost from the subsequent fast-time handicap win of runner-up Goulane Chosen.

Perhaps the most informative jumps race in Britain last week was the Juvenile Handicap Hurdle at Ascot on Sunday, which helped to untangle a few form lines among the four-year-olds.

The race went to Malaya in a notably good time, worth a 142 timefigure, from Eragon De Chanay (131), the latter going a long way to confirming the impression he had made at Sandown prior to a disappointing effort at Cheltenham.

Even more noteworthy, however, is that Malaya had been thrashed by Redicean when receiving a 5lb sex allowance in the Adonis Hurdle at Kempton. Redicean managed only sixth in the Triumph Hurdle but could well be smart even if he has not produced a time to back that up yet. Aintree may well suit Redicean better than did the mudbath at Cheltenham.