THIS year’s Tolworth Hurdle at Sandown has some tough acts to follow, the previous four runnings of the race throwing up winners of the calibre of L’Ami Serge, Yorkhill, Finian’s Oscar and Summerville Boy. The last named beat Kalashnikov 12 months ago before the pair went on to be first and second again in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

The likelihood is that Elixir De Nutz – who beat Grand Sancy by half a length on Saturday – is not that good, but he is far from bad, either.

The overall time of the Tolworth was 0.9s quicker than the handicap hurdle, in which Monsieur Lecoq carried 9lbs less, and 2.5s quicker than the opening juvenile hurdle, in which Torpillo carried just 1lb more. Both those winners have been credited with 132 timefigures, meaning that Elixir De Nutz comes out at 146.

He and Grand Sancy (145) are now close behind 149-rated Aramon among novice hurdlers, though there are likely to be a few in the 150s come Cheltenham Festival time.

Elixir De Nutz is useful, versatile regarding ground (this was “soft”, whereas his previous wins had been on “good”) and fine with making his own running. A tough nut to crack, but not an impossible one, in all probability.

That slightly disappointing overall time by Torpillo – the top-rated juvenile going into this on 140 – needs to be put into context by acknowledging that he did a lot of running early, five to 10 lengths ahead of the other two winners at the end of the back straight.

Torpillo essentially did a bit too much too soon, though that proved very effective against markedly inferior rivals who stopped even more than he did. His winning margin was 22 lengths, and his best chance in the Triumph Hurdle may be if ground conditions are similar to these.

Monsieur Lecoq, also a novice, is unlikely to be better than a handicapper, albeit a useful one. But this looks pretty solid form, with last-time winner Our Merlin (125) beaten nine lengths into second.