O YE of little faith! To be fair, even those with a lot of faith must have considered deserting Bristol De Mai at one point or another.

Those who did not were rewarded handsomely when the enigmatic grey delivered a second Betfair Chase at Haydock at the weekend.

There should never have been much doubt that Bristol De Mai was top-class on his day, even if those days were not always easy to predict. He has an immaculate record at Haydock (where the fences came in for criticism for being too stiff last Saturday), though that may not be the whole story. Either way, he was very good again.

This year’s Betfair Chase was run at a reasonable pace, though with quite a quick finish, and resulted in a high-class time.

It was a massive 15.6s (about a furlong) quicker than the useful handicap won by Vintage Clouds which followed it and yet was also in the region of 10 lengths quicker than that race in the closing stages.

I have a 171 timefigure for Bristol De Mai, which might have been higher still but for the proximity of the horses he beat: they are all pretty good, but they cannot all be absolutely outstanding.

That figure is the best among jumpers in Ireland and Britain this season, just ahead of Road To Respect’s 170 for winning the JNWine Champion Chase at Down Royal.

As a result, Native River weighs in at 167 – a perfectly good number for one who I now have running to 172 in winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March – with Thistlecrack on 166, Clan Des Obeaux on 163 and Might Bite, who was still bang there two out, on a disappointing 145.

With the future in mind, it is likely that Native River and possibly Might Bite will leapfrog Bristol De Mai hereafter – we have been here before with the last-named, after all – but not certain.

Bristol De Mai has illustrated the folly of typecasting horses prematurely more than once already.

It was also a most creditable effort from Thistlecrack, for all that he never looked like winning. There was little in his back catalogue to suggest he is better than this over fences, his 2016 King George Chase coming in a poor time.

It was a fascinating and stirring Betfair Chase, and one in which the result should be largely taken at face value. But it remains to be seen how much good-ground form in November relates to events further down the line.