THE feature event at Haydock last Saturday was the Peter Marsh Chase but in the event the performance that prompted more comment than any other at the meeting came from Champion Hurdle hopeful Pentland Hills in The New One Unibet Hurdle, one of two hurdles races over the minimum trip (the other being the Rossington Main) on the card that followed an oddly similar pattern.

Not only did the keen-racing favourite in each race throw away what seemed a race-winning advantage close home to a Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained runner, but both races were run at an even tempo in near-identical times and in near-identical fractions.

Neither winning timefigure was remarkable - Timeform gave Stolen Silver 134 and Ballyandy 135, both coming with 2lb upgrades - and, on balance, those figures reflect slightly better on Stolen Silver and runner-up Edwardstone than they do Ballyandy and Pentland Hills.

Weak Champion Hurdle

That’s not to say Pentland Hills still won’t take a hand in what is shaping up to be a weak-looking Champion Hurdle. A faster pace and better ground might yet allow him to deliver the sort of finish that he has promised twice this season.

That said, his defeat seemingly makes it all the more likely that Honeysuckle will be thrown into the fray if she comes out of the Irish Champion Hurdle well, but whether she can hurdle as fluently as she will need to back at two miles, I’m not sure.