Ratings Update: Down Royal reaction

Some of the star-studded team Gordon Elliott sent to Down Royal were presented with an easy opening on their return, but Brighterdaysahead (150p from 143p) faced a tougher task on paper in the Bottlegreen Hurdle against Daddy Long Legs, a wide-margin winner of a Grade 3 at Tipperary on his previous start, and King of Kingsfield, runner-up in the Grade 1 Royal Bond last season.

Daddy Long Legs failed to fire, underlining issues with his consistency, but King of Kingsfield ran up to his best, briefly looking a threat to his stablemate before she forged three and three-quarter lengths clear up the run-in.

Brighterdaysahead had won a Grade 1 novice hurdle at Aintree in impressive style on her final start last season, but that wasn't a strong race for the level as her main two rivals disappointed. She had to run to a higher level to defy a hefty penalty at Down Royal and there was a lot to like about how she found extra when tackled to ultimately finish well on top. The rating she earned would be good enough to win a typical edition of the Mares' Hurdle and she remains capable of better. For context, last season's Mares' Hurdle winner Lossiemouth, who is now second favourite for the Champion Hurdle, is rated 154p.

Found A Fifty (161 from 159) was also faced with a decent test on his return having to give a stone to the progressive Galway Plate winner Pinkerton, but he proved up to the task in the Bottlegreen Ladies Day 2024 Chase and enhanced his superb record over fences.

Found A Fifty was campaigned exclusively in Grade 1 company last season after winning a beginners' event on his chasing debut at this meeting, but he performed with plenty of credit, winning twice at the top level and finishing runner-up on the other three occasions. He looked as good as ever on Saturday, seeing things out well to register a two-and-a-quarter-length success. This was a high-class display on the figures and he'd probably only need to improve in the region of 5 lb to be competitive in a typical renewal of the Ryanair Chase.

Elliott had eight winners at the meeting, sending out four on each day, though he was out of luck in the feature Champion Chase as odds-on favourite Gerri Colombe disappointed behind Envoi Allen (remains 166) who got the better of a tight tussle with Hewick.

Gerri Colombe had won narrowly last year but he was struggling from a fair way out this time around, looking rusty on his reappearance, and was ultimately beaten more than 13 lengths in third. It was the first time in 15 starts that he had finished outside the first two and he is likely to be back to form (remains rated 172) with this under his belt and when back on a more galloping track.

Envoi Allen has a slightly patchy profile but his record at Down Royal is impossible to knock and he ran up to his best to make it five wins from six starts at the track (his one defeat was when beaten a neck by Gerri Colombe in this 12 months ago). It was also his second win in Down Royal's Champion Chase having claimed the prize in 2022.

Elliott introduced a number of promising novices at Down Royal, including Firefox (142P) who was placed three times in Grade 1 novice hurdles last season and looks set to be contesting similar company over fences soon.

However, the best performance in a novice chase last week came at Wexford courtesy of Inthepocket (153p from 148p). Inthepocket, a Grade 1-winning novice hurdler two seasons ago, made a promising start over fences at Navan last year when runner-up behind Facile Vega but a setback meant he wasn't seen out again for the remainder of the campaign. Crucially, he retains his novice status over fences and looks set to make up for lost time this winter based on his impressive return on Monday. Inthepocket was up against another Grade 1-winning novice hurdler in Farren Glory, last year's Royal Bond winner, but he proved far too strong and cruised to a 15-length victory in a good timefigure.

That earned him a Timeform rating of 153p, which is the highest achieved by a novice chaser so far at this early stage of the season, and he looks set to develop into a contender for top honours. He wouldn't need to show much improvement to be very competitive in most Grade 1 novice chases.

Inthepocket's trainer Henry de Bromhead also struck at Wexford in the listed chase with Heart Wood (remains 156p) who made the most of the healthy weight allowance he received from Corbetts Cross to win by seven lengths. Heart Wood may not have needed to match the form he showed when third in the Grade 1 Mildmay Novices' Chase at Aintree in the spring but he still impressed with how he went through the race, looking like a young chaser with more to offer.