THE rearrangement of the Peterborough Chase from its usual home at Huntingdon (meeting cancelled) to Taunton two days later provided Top Notch with another opportunity to advertise his quality and reliability.

It proved straightforward for him to see off three rivals, including his stable-companion Josses Hill, but a 154 timefigure showed that this was still a performance of some merit, not too far below the lifetime-best 163 the gelding recorded when winning at Ascot on his previous run.

Time comparisons were easier at Doncaster on Saturday than at most meetings, with four races at the minimum trip over hurdles and two at around three miles over fences.

The Grade 2 Summit Juvenile Hurdle ended up the slowest of the quartet, if not by much, and Triumph Hurdle hope We Have A Dream might have been impressive but managed just a 103 timefigure (compared to 120 at Warwick the time before). Act of Valour was a massive disappointment and was presumably not right.

Countister was only a bit quicker in the novice hurdle (108 timefigure), but Castafiore (121) and Irish Roe (133) ran good winning times in the two handicap hurdles.

Keeper Hill took the notable scalp of Braqueur d’Or in the December Novices’ Chase, but in a time 4.8s slower than recorded later on by Mustmeetalady in a handicap chase.

The former gets a 121 timefigure – compared to his 136 when beaten by Benatar at Plumpton on his previous run – and the latter 132.