My Timeform: Eyecatchers from the first week of 2015

Champagne West – Cheltenham, January 1

‘No-one remembers the runner-up’ is one of those annoying clichés you’d like to avoid, apart from when you can use it to your advantage. The plaudits after the Dipper on New Year’s Day were all for Ptit Zig and, while it’s true that he’s now a leading contender for whatever Cheltenham Festival novice he goes for, you’d be rash to write off second-placed Champagne West for the RSA.

Champagne West was just shy of the top staying novice hurdlers last season (fourth in the Spa at Cheltenham) and has already proved himself better over fences, as his physique had always promised. He won a good race at the Open meeting from Colour Squadron then took out Un Ace at the International meeting before last week. Although a strong traveller, Champagne West looked ready for the step up to three miles in the Dipper, proving one paced under pressure. Given the sectionals, you can’t say he failed for stamina relative to Ptit Zig. Should he settle and duly prove the three-miler he’s always promised to be, Champagne West can take a trial next time before returning for another crack at the Festival.

Little Jon – Cheltenham, January 1

If no-one remembers the runner-up, then the horse that fell six fences from the finish must be essentially expunged from history. Let’s hope that Little Jon will be, so to speak, as what he’s achieved when he has completed over fences is wholly solid and makes him an appealing handicap prospect off 140.

We can’t tell what Little Jon would have done had he stood up on Thursday. We arguably don’t have to. Watch the race, assure yourself that his jumping is generally sound for he’s failed to complete the last twice, and look back to when he beat Solar Impulse at Newton Abbot, or when he finished right up behind Dunraven Storm and Vibrato Voltat at the Open meeting.

The way Little Jon went through Thursday’s race tells us he remains in good form, though the result suggests he has his work cut out against the top novices now. There’s a Timeform-sponsored novice handicap chase over Thursday’s C&D on Festival Trials Day, and we’d be very interested to see Little Jon in our race, the winner of which will earn nearly as much as Ptit Zig did for taking the Dipper.

Triolo d’Alene – Sandown, January 3

Whether Triolo d’Alene is interesting next time or not will depend largely on whether it’s in the Grand National or if it’s another prep run for the same. It looks increasingly likely that Aintree is his one big target this season and, when it’s all said and done, we think he ran the best trial for the National on Saturday. Better even than Unioniste, who won impressively on the day but as a result has gone up to a BHA rating of 159. That means he’d need a Gold Cup-worthy performance to win at Aintree.

Triolo d’Alene was himself talked about as a legitimate Gold Cup contender in 2014 and he looks potentially well in off 154. He certainly did on Saturday, having steered the widest course and been asked for his effort much too late. That he managed to finish third is to his great credit. Proven over the National fences (won the Topham in 2013) and seemingly over the breathing problems that struck him last spring, Triolo d’Alene is one to watch in the National betting at twice the price of Unioniste.

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