1. Douvan out for the season

One of the biggest racing stories of the weekend came off the track as Willie Mullins revealed Douvan would not run again this season.

Mullins revealed to the Racing Post that Douvan had been “intermittently lame” after his workload was upped last week and that after talking to Rich Ricci, they had decided to take a conservative approach and cross off the whole season.

It’s understandable that Mullins would take a conservative approach with Douvan, who is still only seven and so has time on his side to come back to his best. That said, a lot of water is going to flow under the bridge by the time we see the son of Walk In The Park again and you’d have to be sceptical about the chance of him coming back to his brilliant best.

The most frustrating part for connections and Douvan fans alike is the chunk of potential which is now lost. Douvan was a Supreme Novice Hurdle winner aged five, an Arkle winner at six and after a perfect lead-up last season, he was long odds-on to win a Champion Chase aged seven, when he suffered an injury to his pelvis during the race. You were thinking this is a horse who could win three Champion Chases. Or he could win one and then go up in trip and be a Gold Cup contender. There was the potential for him to become an all-time great.

Now, if Douvan does manage to return to the track, he will be a nine-year-old by the time the 2019 festival comes around. There will be new horses on the scene and earlier in the season he’ll have to prove himself at the top level, having not had a race in 600 days.

While it is a massive blow to both Mullins and Ricci, they do have a readymade replacement for all the big two-mile events this season in Min so there is a line to the sympathy. However in the case of Douvan, it is unfortunate that it seems like his career is getting away from him.

2. More juice in Melon down the line

Melon was for many, the only horse that could emerge from the International Hurdle at Cheltenham on Saturday as a creditable Champion Hurdle contender. For many, he didn’t do that, when failing to beat old hands My Tent Or Yours and The New One, and in turn finishing just ahead of Ch’Tibello and Old Guard.

On the face of it, the race doesn’t look like Champion Hurdle-winning form but there’s more to it than that. It’s worth pointing out that both Melon and The New One were conceding weight to the winner - 6lbs in all. That was a particularly tough ask for Melon, who is the young horse trying to break into senior rank. Technically, on official ratings, Willie Mullins’s horse was a stone wrong at the weights with My Tent Or Yours. And, it’s also worth pointing out he was trying to make that sort of improvement on just his fifth run over hurdles. Nicky Henderson’s horse finished second in the previous three Champion Hurdles and so is a solid standard-setter.

Melon (right) eventually finished third to My Tent Or Yours (left) and The New One (centre) in the International Hurdle at Cheltenham

Perhaps more significantly Melon pulled hard throughout the race and probably used up a lot of petrol before he even came down the hill. With more experience and behind a stronger pace, he should be able to settle better and in turn finish off his race better.

The Champion Hurdle market is dominated by Buveur D’Air and Faugheen. Melon missed the chance to properly announce himself on the two-mile stage (available to back at 16/1) but all is not lost and he remains a horse with a progressive profile, with plenty of scope to develop into a major player in the division this season.

3. Next Destination can put it up to Samcro

Next Destination was impressive in winning the Grade 2 Navan Novice Hurdle and he looks a creditable contender to challenge Samcro in the 2m4f novice hurdle division. The pair could meet at Naas in the Grade 1 Lawler Hotels Novice Hurdle, over the 2m4f distance early next month.

If you use Jetz as the form line, there isn’t much between them. Samcro beat Jessica Harrington’s horse in the "Monksfield" Novice Hurdle at Navan over the 2m4f trip by 12 lengths. Next Destination beat the same horse around the same course and distance by just over seven lengths. Both horses basically won on the bridle so the real margin of superiority is unknown. But it’s safe to say they were both very impressive and both are potentially very smart.

Next Destination was impressive when winning the Grade 1 Navan Novice Hurdle at Navan

Such is the hype with Samcro, it’s difficult to imagine him starting at a price anything better than Even money, and probably a lot shorter than that, should he turn up at Naas. But on the evidence Next Destination has achieved about as much over hurdles as Samcro has (if not more considering yesterday’s race was a Grade 2). He will, at the very least, make a race of it should he to take on Gordon Elliott’s much touted star.