This was apparent in his win at Haydock where he was left to beat just two others after his main rival fell.

Taquin Du Seuil also jumped left, at least to some degree over five of the last six fences, most noticeably at the second last which he clambered over sideways in rather off-putting fashion.

Taquin Du Seuil was allowed to slow right down on the run-in. It’s difficult to say how fast he would have run if he’d had more company but he’s earned proper Grade 1 ratings from me in the past. The thing that worries me now is whether he needs the heavy ground he encountered at Haydock to be fully effective. Could it be that really slow ground slows the jumping down enough to suit him?

Taquin Du Seuil’s record certainly looks suggestive in this regard. He’s won all four times he’s run on heavy ground. Outside of maiden company (he’s won a maiden hurdle and a flat maiden) he’s won just one time out of 12 on ground faster than heavy.

It could be that the track at Cheltenham is so testing it helps him in the same way heavy ground does, but having seen this run I’m now edging towards the idea that he’s going to need three miles even at Cheltenham to be effective on anything except very slow going. I was interested to hear that he will be entered in the three-mile RSA Chase as well as what I still keep calling the Jewson over two miles, five furlongs.