EINSTEIN allegedly defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Well, it is not quite “over and over again”, but anyone with an interest in time analysis over jumps will have a distinct sense of déjà vu where Bristol De Mai is concerned: they must be wondering whether things will be different this time or that they have, indeed, lost their marbles.

Back in January, the six-year-old put up a top-notch performance to win the Peter Marsh Chase at Haydock by 22 lengths, on the back of which I gave him a 171 timefigure and stated that his odds of 25/1 for the Cheltenham Gold Cup were far too generous.

Fast forward to last Saturday, and Bristol De Mai was even more spectacular, not just against his rivals but against the clock, when winning the Betfair Chase at Haydock by 57 lengths from Cue Card in a time 11.5s quicker than that recorded by the useful handicapper Chase The Spud just 35 minutes later.

FASTEST

This time, I have a 176 timefigure for Bristol De Mai, which leads to Chase The Spud running a bit slower than expectations at 134. That makes Bristol De Mai the fastest chaser this season by fully 11lb, from Fox Norton, faster too than Faugheen’s recent 169 over hurdles, and he did it with considerable ease also.

Closer analysis shows that the sectionals were similar for the Betfair Chase and the handicap until the sixth fence, but that the former was vastly quicker mid-race before being slightly slower in the closing stages. Bristol De Mai destroyed his opposition a long way out, and they were exhausted by the end.

It is not just that one-on-one comparison which makes Bristol De Mai’s Betfair Chase time look very good: it also measures up well against the handicap won by Hainan (140 timefigure) and even better against the graduation chase win of Clan Des Obeaux (125), both earlier on the card.

Whatever you make of Bristol De Mai overall, you surely have to concede that there are few horses who could have lived with him at the weekend. But it also has to be conceded that his two most impressive efforts have come at Haydock and on testing ground, and that may be no coincidence.

In case you missed it, Bristol De Mai did not win the Cheltenham Gold Cup back in March – extraordinary though that may seem! – but finished only seventh, albeit after an injury scare. He was also beaten at Newbury and Aintree either side of that race. What went wrong?

Maybe it was just one of those things, but, on reflection, it seems likely that the ground matters more to Bristol De Mai than the course, for he has won at tracks like Chepstow, Sandown and Wetherby as well. And he may not need it to be bottomless, for he was a Grade 1 novice winner on good to soft.

All in all, it looks worth taking the risk and backing Bristol De Mai for the King George VI Chase at Kempton, for which he is as big as 8/1 at the time of writing. He will very likely be the best horse in the race, and fingers can be crossed that he gets his conditions (ground softer than good has prevailed for six of the last 10 runnings).

Expecting a result different to 12 months before with the same horse in the next Cheltenham Gold Cup can wait for another day!