I WROTE last weekend that More Of That might be vulnerable on his reappearance but that defeat at the hands of race-fit rivals wouldn’t affect his chances of defending his World Hurdle crown, and it was no great surprise to see a bit of 5/1 offered up by Betfair’s fixed-odds division after he could finish only third to Medinas last Saturday.

Both Medinas and runner-up Cole Harden had the benefit of an outing in Wetherby’s West Yorkshire Hurdle and that factor was of major significance on ground which tested fitness to the full.

Like Jonjo O’Neill, I was far from downcast at the display, and given that a minor breathing problem had been diagnosed before this outing, it gives connections the opportunity to do a little fine tuning on this most exciting hurdler. With Annie Power out for at least two months as a result of a stress fracture, and second favourite Beat That far from sure to jump a hurdle this season, the positives far outweigh the negatives for More Of That, and he remains the best ante-post option on offer for the 2015 Cheltenham Festival.