A DEPLETED race programme on a Saturday in January is not where you would necessarily first turn to find Cheltenham clues, but Haydock Park last weekend ended up more than making up for the cancellation of racing at Ascot and Taunton on the same day due to frozen conditions.

Two of the winning efforts at the Merseyside track were out of the ordinary and could well have a bearing on events at the festival in two months’ time.

Firstly, the well-touted Neon Wolf looked a gelding who could go right to the top after he wiped the floor with his six rivals in the Grade 2 Novices’ Hurdle. It was not just what he beat - though that did include the useful Elgin by nine lengths - but how he did it and what it represents on the clock.

Neon Wolf’s time was 5.0s quicker than the opening handicap winner Deepsand (119 timefigure) and 0.4s quicker than Champion Hurdle Trial winner The New One (150 timefigure), though the latter did carry 4lb more weight.

That results in a timefigure of 148 for Harry Fry’s six-year-old, despite sectionals showing that he did an awful lot of his running late on. The novices were several lengths in arrears of the other two, well-run, contests until halfway, but Neon Wolf himself simply powered away in the home straight.

He should rate well into the 150s, and that is definitely good enough to get him involved in a Cheltenham Festival novice hurdle. However, Neon Wolf’s trainer seemed reluctant to commit him to either the Supreme (the obvious target) or the Neptune, or even to Cheltenham itself.

Then, there was the performance of Bristol De Mai in winning the Peter Marsh Chase by 22 lengths off a BHA mark of 154. His opposition rather fell away, but Bristol De Mai looked to have loads to spare. Few staying chasers around could do what he did here.

The clock has him running a 171 timefigure, which has been surpassed this season by only Douvan and Cue Card in Britain and Ireland, and previous doubts about his stamina appeared to be categorically put to bed.

Indeed, you might be concerned about how he would cope with a return to around two and a half miles unless the ground was testing.

Trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies would not be drawn on the gelding’s Cheltenham target, either, but it should surely be the Cheltenham Gold Cup, especially in what may not be a vintage year. Bristol De Mai’s odds of 25/1 in places at the time of writing look generous: indeed, it could be argued that he should be at a single-figure price following this.

I have backed Bristol De Mai for the Cheltenham Gold Cup and also backed Neon Wolf for the Supreme before the doubts about his participation became apparent. Here’s hoping both sets of connections do the right thing!