IT’S been a week of increased emphasis on the jumps scene with Chepstow yesterday and today’s meeting a marker for the emergence of some quality performers from last season and it continues now into next week.

Numerous horses to follow lists and ante-post Festival recommendations are appearing all over social media.

It has the making of a tremendous year for novice chasers, and that’s not even taking into account what may come from France to the bigger yards over the summer. Trying to figure out which Mullins horses may be a little under exposed is a job in itself.

But taking account of the often wise advice of ‘always forgive a horse one bad run’, the odds for the horse who stated favourite for the Supreme Novices’ look a bit of value.

It wasn’t that it was bad run by Asterion Forlonge, but he jumped alarmingly right over the downhill hurdles. He had shown a tendency to do it when winning in Leopardstown but not as severe. He won his two novices by almost 20 lengths combined, without showing any extreme wayward signs. Patrick Mullins reports him to be schooling well in our Talking Trainer column today.

In the hope that fences may concentrate him more, surely, on the balance of his form, odds of 40/1 (Bet365/Unibet) for the Arkle and a general 33/1 for the Marsh are huge.