THE final day of Cheltenham 2020 may end up being remembered at least as much for an extraordinary JCB Triumph Hurdle as for what happened in the main event itself. The history books will show that Burning Victory won the race, but Goshen was about a dozen lengths ahead of her and not stopping when freakishly unseating his rider at the last.

Goshen had been ridden close to the predictably strong pace but stormed past his rivals at the second-last and was in complete control when getting his feet tangled on landing at the last.

It does not need me to tell you that Goshen is an exceptional juvenile hurdler, but the clock and a bit of projection means we can put a reasonably solid figure on it. I have a figure of 159 on him after this, which is level with (the ultimately disappointing) Peace And Co five years ago.

He is a legitimate Champion Hurdle contender, but no more so than two or three of the novice hurdlers seen during the week, should that be their target.

Burning Victory was more efficiently ridden from out the back and ends up with a 140 figure, with Aspire Tower in second on 141 and Allmankind in third on 144. It has to be said that this Triumph did not have the greatest strength in depth, especially after Goshen’s aggressive run style did for the chances of one or two of his main rivals.

As it is, Burning Victory ran an overall time 3.7s slower than Saint Roi managed in a more evenly-run County Hurdle shortly after. The latter is a novice going places quickly – this was just his fourth start – but a simple time comparison is misleading given how the two races were run.

Saint Roi gets a figure of 146 after this, but it should also be remembered that he was receiving quite a bit of weight from the placed horses, Aramon (150) and fellow novice Embittered (147).

Backers of Monkfish in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle arguably have Paul Townend to thank for collecting. His mount was willing and able, but in a finish of narrow margins Monkfish was helped by being in exactly the right place at the right time (and by inadvertently squeezing out fourth-placed Thyme Hill going to the last).

Monkfish got home in front with a 147 basic timefigure boosted to 150 on sectionals, but Latest Exhibition (151) and Fury Road (152) did slightly more running late on than he did in a race which did not test stamina in the way it usually does.

Of the first four, Fury Road could be the best prospect for chasing next season, improving here and looking a dyed-in-the-wool stayer besides anything else.

Judged by his authoritative win in the Grand Annual Handicap Chase, Chosen Mate would have had a fair shout in the Arkle on the opening day if that had been the target. Instead, he landed some good bets without too much fuss in a well-run contest and with a 154 timefigure.

Runner-up Eclair De Beaufeu, who conceded 2lb and earned the same figure, is another good novice chaser who would be worth trying against the best. The Arkle runner-up Fakir D’oudairies is on 158 on my figures after a slight revision.

The concluding Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle is one that possibly got away for Gordon Elliott, as his Column Of Fire was going best and odds on in-running when coming down at the last.

That left the way clear for Indefatigable (150) to pip Pileon (143), while Column Of Fire gets a rating of 149. To my surprise, there are still some figure-makers who maintain that you should not alter a horse’s rating in such circumstances.