WHERE do we even start after such a fantastic week of horse racing? The action certainly didn’t disappoint.

While there were a lot of horses for us to get excited over, there was one that filled the minor honours that I think is still worth keeping an eye on, writes Page Fuller.

Hyland always faced a tough task in the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase at Kempton, taking on last year’s Albert Bartlett’s runner-up, The Jukebox Man, and I think it was a better performance than it may seem at first glance.

There was not a lot of competition for the lead, which meant the pace ended up being fairly steady early doors. Hyland then was unable to get into his usual jumping rhythm, meaning he couldn’t force the pace himself.

Turning in, Hyland and The Jukebox Man turned the taps on, and the fractions they set to the line were electric. The Jukebox Man covered the final four furlongs in 52.36 seconds, which was quicker than any horse over the two days at Kempton, including Constitution Hill. Hyland only managed 53.11 secs, but this was still the third quickest final furlong set, and therefore pretty impressive.

Throughout the race, Hyand forfeited 3.52 lengths through his jumping, and was only between two and a half. We also know Hyland is capable of jumping better than this: he recorded 8.9 and 8.6 on our Jump Index when winning at Cheltenham the last twice and only managed 7.8 at Kempton.

Therefore, if these two met again, specifically at Cheltenham, I wouldn’t be too surprised if Hyland managed to turn the tables, and still looks another exciting prospect for the Henderson team.

Aintree

The other horse that I think would be worth another chance was one that got quite literally lost in the fog up at Aintree in the Grade 1 Formby Novices’ Hurdle.

Country Mile has been quite hard to judge so far, showing some flashes of brilliance, but then not backing it up as we’d expect. His Aintree performance was by far the worst so far, but I am certainly not losing the faith yet.

Potters Charm helped set strong fractions in front and used his known staying ability to gallop the rest of his rivals into the ground.

To put this into context, Potters Charm was the only winner at Aintree on the day with an FSP of less than 100%. His final four furlongs time of 62.11 seconds was also the slowest of the day, even though the race was run over two miles.

Why is this relevant to Country Mile? Well, the same thing happened when he was second at Haydock on soft ground, and I think he is far better suited to a sharp two miles, where he can make more use of his pace. His jumping is also incredibly slick, which may not be so well suited to the stamina tests he faced at both Haydock and Aintree.

It will, however, be important in a race such as the County Hurdle at Cheltenham where his trainer, Dan Skelton, has such a strong record. His Jump Indexes of 8.3 and then 8.4 the last twice suggest he should have no problem in a handicap and, off a mark of 138 on better ground, you would like to think that he could be an exciting prospect for some big handicap prizes in the spring.