I AM not a big supporter of the idea that a jockey should never be required to alter their mount’s course in order to allow a rival some running room. I think that rules should be changed to ensure jockeys give all runners in a race, not just their own mounts, the best chance to win. This would be fair to everyone, in particular punters.

An example of what happens without this rule change was provided in a valuable intermediate chase at Newton Abbot.

Running up to the fourth last, Tom O’Brien on Colour Squadron (39) was allowing very little room indeed to Double Ross on his inside. Jamie Moore on Double Ross tried to get his mount to squeeze through the tiny gap on the inside of the fence but Double Ross spooked at the last second, dived across the jump, pushed Colour Squadron’s back end sideways and crashed to the ground. The collision cost Colour Squadron very little momentum but all the other runners had to swerve to avoid Double Ross. The result was that Colour Squadron was five lengths clear soon after the jump, having been only narrowly ahead as he launched himself over it.

At first it looked like Colour Squadron had an unassailable lead as he was moving smoothly while all his rivals were being scrubbed along. He went 10/1 on in running.

However, entering the straight with two to jump, O’Brien gave a worried look back over his shoulder and very soon another. Colour Squadron was beginning to tire and Wonderful Charm had come out of the pack to close in on him steadily.

The way that Wonderful Charm so readily caught Colour Squadron to beat him three lengths might suggest a cut back to two miles is in order. The fact is though this was a strongly run race and Colour Squadron earned the joint biggest speed rating I’ve ever given him. In addition the one time he was cut back to two miles over fences he ran a clunker.

BREATHING PROBLEMS

It could be that Colour Squadron’s breathing problems mean he’s always going to be weak in the closing stages of a race. He’s gone like a winner several times only to fold late and has in fact not won since 2011.

What counters this is the fact that Colour Squadron placed in three strongly run handicaps at Cheltenham last season. Horses with breathing problems tend not to do well in strongly run races or when having to face Cheltenham’s steep uphill finish.

I just can’t find any obvious pattern to Colour Squadron’s form but he pretty much always runs his race and is still eligible for novice chases, so I wouldn’t let his long losing streak put you off.

The winner Wonderful Charm (40) was being pushed along even before he had to swerve on landing after four out. However, he gradually started to reel in Colour Squadron and forged clear on the run in to clock a very fast time.

Like Colour Squadron Wonderful Charm has had breathing problems. Such horses tend to have trouble on very soft ground or ascending the very steep uphill finishes at Cheltenham and Towcester. They often fail to stay quite as far as their pedigrees suggest they should do.

To date Wonderful Charm has lost all three times he’s run at Cheltenham, with his sole good run being on fast ground in a slow run race. He’s yet to show he doesn’t handle very soft ground, but most likely that’s because trainer Paul Nicholls says he won’t run him on it. He’s also lost both times he’s gone three miles.

Over shorter trips outside Cheltenham, Wonderful Charm’s sole loss in seven tries since 2011 was a close second place to a Grade 1 winner.

Actually, I’m not fully convinced that Wonderful Charm does not stay three miles. One of his attempts at the distance was at Cheltenham. In the other he was third (admittedly by 17 lengths) in one of the fastest three-mile novice chases ever on my ratings. This, plus the way he found so much here when off the bridle for so long in a strongly run race over just two and a half furlongs shy of three miles suggests stamina may actually be his strong suit.

After the race Paul Nicholls said the choice for Wonderful Charm’s next race lay between the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham and the Grade 2 chase run on Down Royal’s jnwine.com Champion Chase card. Given the horse’s record at Cheltenham and the fact Nicholls has won the Down Royal Chase six times with six runners I’d say the choice is obvious.

Wonderful Charm is certainly fast enough to win at Down Royal. His performance there will show whether it’s worth taking a shot with him at the King George.

Third-placed Taquin Du Seuil (31) is a rather leggy, gangly sort who shows knee action. He does nothing quickly. He’s won four out of four on heavy ground and might just have won three from four on Cheltenham’s very stiff course but for stumbling on landing over the last when a close second to Oscar Whisky. Outside of maiden company he’s lost all 10 times he’s run on less testing ground or on less testing tracks.

Here Taquin Du Seuil lost a good deal of momentum when swerving to avoid the faller at the fourth last. And around a tight turning track on ground faster than ideal he never looked like making up the deficit. He wasn’t given a hard time when his chance had gone.

Taquin Du Seuil was very useful on the flat and few horses with good flat form stay three miles over jumps. However, he stayed really well on the flat and does seem to be a horse with zero acceleration and loads of stamina. So perhaps he can be a rare type like Commanche Court who developed from being good on the flat to being one of the top three-mile chasers.

It will be very interesting to see if Taquin Du Seuil can produce his best form away from Cheltenham and on ground faster than heavy when he’s stepped up to three miles.

The distance was too short, the track too tight and the going a bit too fast for Black Thunder (27). So I wouldn’t worry that he was at full stretch from a long way out on his seasonal debut. He’s a strong sort with plenty of stamina who has earned ratings as big as 39 from me in the past. Back over three miles plus on a more galloping course I’d bet on him leaving this form behind.