THE Berkshire Winter Million Festival was bookended by two days of action at Windsor, but it was a disappointing favourite on day one that I definitely think is worth forgiving, writes Page Fuller.

Be Aware was a well supported favourite for the Grade 2 Lightning Novices’ Chase, but unfortunately found the unstoppable Ben Pauling and Jones combination too strong on the day.

Crucially, there was clear room for improvement, and the data highlights this nicely.

He set strong fractions in front, as his average entry speed of 31.49 mph demonstrates. This was the second fastest that any horse at Windsor at the weekend approached their obstacles. Hurdles or fences.

Unsurprisingly, this meant that when push came to shove at the end of the race, his jumping paid the price.

Over the first nine fences, he was pretty well matched with No Questions Asked, with both of them losing around 3.5 mph on average at their obstacles. Over the final three fences however, where No Questions Asked got fully into gear and only lost 2.8 mph on average, Be Aware’s mistakes cost him 4.9mph on average.

In terms of the lengths he lost as a consequence, he forfeited more than five and a lengths jumping to No Questions Asked, and was only beaten a length.

Whilst it is conditional on the Skeltons’ working some magic on him, it does highlight the potential improvement with Be Aware, and will not have done his handicap mark any harm in the process if some of the spring handicaps are in the pipeline for him.