PEACE And Co (23-pace adjusted 36) won strongly run races at Clairefontaine and Doncaster on his first two lifetime starts.

Last Saturday he showed that he has the speed to perform just as well off a crawl of an early gallop when winning a sprint finish for the Triumph Hurdle Trial at Cheltenham.

Settled in the rear, Peace And Co had to take a bump as he squeezed through a narrow gap on the rail in the closing stages. He then proceeded to show a serious turn of foot on the run-in to scoot three lengths clear.

It’s hard to knock a horse that has won all their starts impressively. However I’m far from convinced that the bookies are right to have Peace And Co as short as 6/4 for the Triumph Hurdle.

He’s earned the same speed rating from me on all his starts to date. And, while that makes him fast, he’s a long way off the huge ratings I gave exceptional Triumph winners such as Detroit City and Our Conor before their wins in the top juvenile hurdle. In fact, I have several juveniles on the same sort of rating as Peace And Co.

In this regard I think it’s worth noting that since 1989 only one of the 18 winners of the Triumph Hurdle Trial (formerly Finesse Juvenile Hurdle) to tackle the Triumph itself have scored. This was Katchit in 2007.

My feeling from watching this race is that Peace And Co’s smart turn of foot makes him hard to beat in tactically run races like this. But in a slog like the Triumph I’m inclined to prefer a horse with more stamina.

One such horse is Ibis Du Rheu (12-pace adjusted 24) who made the running to two out before being outpaced in the sprint finish and given an easy time of things in the closing stages.

Ibis Du Rheu is a strong chasing sort who is bred for three miles. He showed smart form in more strongly run races in France, running a half-length second to the smart Top Notch before earning a rating of 37 from me when scoring by seven lengths at Enghien.

It could be that Ibis Du Rheu won’t show his best form in Britain until he tackles fences or gets the chance to go longer than the Triumph Hurdle distance. His obvious stamina makes me still interested in his chances for Cheltenham.