Timeform Ratings Update: Reaction to Gerri Colombe's Down Royal win

Tony McFadden provides the Timeform ratings reaction following the weekend's action.

There were only four runners in the Grade 1 Champion Chase at Down Royal on Saturday but it was an intriguing race featuring a quartet of top-level winners and it produced a cracking finish with the up-and-comer in the field, Gerri Colombe (167 from 166p), just getting the verdict.

Gerri Colombe, a winner of four of his five starts as a novice chaser last season, including three times in Grade 1s, was an odds-on favourite to make a successful start in open company but he had to work hard to prevail. Gerri Colombe looked held in third early on the run-in but, in typical style, he found plenty to lead close home and beat an on-song Envoi Allen (166 from 164) by a neck. Gerri Colombe's strength in the finish and his sound jumping are two attributes that will serve him well in a Cheltenham Gold Cup and he has to be considered a live contender for that prize, for all further improvement is likely to be required given the level of form Galopin des Champs (180) and Shishkin (176) have achieved.

It was a highly successful two-day meeting at Down Royal for Gerri Colombe's trainer Gordon Elliott who sent out six winners on Friday and five on the Saturday. Arguably the pick of the performers on Friday was Irish Point (155 from 150) who did well to give 13 lb to a talented and race-fit rival in Magical Zoe over a trip likely to prove short of his best. He was successful in Grade 1 company as a novice last season - he was a ready winner of the Mersey at Aintree - and could still have a bit more to offer this term, especially as his stamina is tapped into.

Brighterdaysahead (136p from 123P) impressed in winning the Grade 3 Mares' Novice Hurdle on the card - a race Magical Zoe won last year before finishing runner-up at the Cheltenham Festival, incidentally.

Dual bumper winner Brighterdaysahead was making only her second start over hurdles and that inexperience was evident as she wasn't foot-perfect, but she showed she has a big engine by running out an authoritative four-and-three-quarter-length winner over Banntown Girl with that rival 13 lengths ahead of the third. Brighterdaysahead has already earned a rating only 3 lb lower than what You Wear It Well was awarded for her victory in the Mares' Novices' Hurdle at last season's Cheltenham Festival, so she is clearly a leading contender for that prize, for all promising rivals are sure to emerge over the winter.

Elliott has used the beginners' chase on the card for some of his better novices in recent seasons - he's won it with the likes of Samcro, Envoi Allen and Mighty Potter - and Found A Fifty (148p) looked like a good prospect when readily brushing his rivals aside, albeit in a race in which almost half of the fences were omitted due to the low sun.

Other novice chasers to post a notable display on their first start over fences include Stay Away Fay (142p) and Grangeclare West (144p), who scored at Exeter and Naas respectively. Stay Away Fay, a gritty winner of the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle last season, had to work hard on his chasing debut but will be better suited by a more soundly-run race which places the emphasis on stamina, while it was more straightforward for Grangeclare West who needed just a hands-and-heels ride to assert after dictating the gallop in his contest.

Knappers Hill (148p from 145p), who like Stay Away Fay is trained by Paul Nicholls, confirmed the promise of his chasing debut behind a much more experienced rival by landing the Grade 2 Rising Stars Novices' Chase at Wincanton, impressing with his jumping. He looks set to develop into a better chaser than hurdler if continuing to jump so accurately and is likely to be a leading player in Grade 1 novices before the spring festivals.

Giovinco (147p from 144p) is another novice to be positive about and he made the most of a good opportunity to get off the mark over fences in a four-runner novice handicap at Aintree, gaining compensation for a late exit when going well on his chasing debut at Carlisle.

There was a good card at Clonmel on Thursday notable for the return of Allaho (remains 178), one of the highest-rated chasers in training (only Galopin des Champs is rated higher). Allaho was faced with a simple task on his first start since winning the Punchestown Gold Cup in April 2022 and he completed the job without much fuss, beating stablemate Janidil by nine lengths. His next outing will likely tell us more about whether he retains all his ability.

Earlier on the card, Allaho's stablemate Allegorie de Vassy (155 from 153) made a pleasing return by winning the listed mares' chase. She went off the boil in the spring but highlighted at Clonmel that she's still among the best in the division when on song. Stablemate Dinoblue (remains 153) is also likely to be a big player in the mares' division this season and she made a winning return in a Grade 3 at Naas on Sunday, though it might have been a different story had Sir Gerhard not fallen when closing at the second-last.