IF there is one debate set to rage over Christmas among ante-post aficionados, it is the one surrounding the merit of Nicky Henderson’s French import Peace And Co, who maintained his perfect hurdling record with an easy win in the Summit Juvenile Hurdle at Doncaster last Saturday.

An easy winner on his racecourse bow at Clairefontaine in June for Christian Scandella, he was quickly snapped up by current connections, and could hardly have been more impressive in beating the useful Starchitect on his British debut.

Rather keen in the early stages, he nonetheless showed a wonderfully quick and efficient hurdling technique, and looked even better when allowed to stride on in the straight when he and the runner-up drew well clear of their toiling rivals.

Few would belittle the form, but it’s the reaction of ratings gurus Timeform which has already caused tongues to wag, and an assessment from the Halifax firm that Peace And Co is already good enough to win an average Triumph Hurdle is certainly incendiary in the context of a division which tends to take full shape only after Kempton’s February meeting.

To understand how remarkable Timeform’s view is, it pays to compare the rating of Henderson’s newest star to that of previous Triumph winners, and a figure of 155+ for the Doncaster run is identical to the one awarded to Zaynar when he won a strong renewal of the Triumph itself in 2009, while Soldatino, winner of the Cheltenham contest for Henderson and owner Simon Munir, never came within half a stone of that figure in his career.

LOFTY RATING

In coming up with such a lofty rating, Timeform has utilised the overall times of several races over the same course and distance on last Saturday’s card, as well as comparing finishing splits of those races, which is clearly a more robust method than merely assuming that the runner-up has run to form, although even that yardstick approach would make the winner a credible candidate for the juvenile championship.

It remains to be seen whether the son of French 2000 Guineas winner Falco can actually improve on what he achieved on Town Moor, while the nature of Cheltenham demands that other aspects of his make-up are tested for the first time, but there is no denying that he is a most exciting prospect who looks the natural successor to Henderson’s 2010 Champion Hurdle winner Binocular.