THE thaw has arrived and we can only hope that we can have a clear run of racing now, with some big Cheltenham Festival trials to come over the next few weeks, writes Page Fuller. It is not all about Cheltenham, however, and there was a winner at Exeter on Monday who is definitely worth keeping an eye on over the next couple of weeks, despite only winning a Class 4.

Jack Sprat has been a fun horse for connections, landing two handicap hurdles last season, after receiving his opening mark. Despite his size, however, his switch to chasing this season did not go so well. He jumped fine on debut, recording a 7.9 on our Jump Index, and finished very strongly to be a promising fourth. Unfortunately, he did not back that run up.