THERE were only five runners, and just three finishers, for Huntingdon’s Betfred Peterborough Chase last Sunday, but it still proved an informative contest.

Wishfull Thinking went too fast but at least ensured a true test, and Al Ferof ran out a convincing winner, returning one of the season’s best timefigures at 166.

He looked to have the measure of Ptit Zig when that one crashed out at the last, with the latter credited with a 162 timefigure, as if he had finished three to four lengths in arrears.

Ptit Zig was arguably representing Vautour by proxy, having given that gelding a fright when conceding weight to him at Ascot a fortnight earlier.

Both races are solid in time terms, but the Ascot one looks a rung or two below the top of the chasing ladder and Vautour will surely have to run better in future.

Vautour’s next run could well be against Al Ferof in the King George VI Chase at Kempton, a race in which Al Ferof has twice finished third, but Don Cossack, Cue Card and maybe even Coneygree make that race look even better.