TRAINER Henry Daly had three winners last Saturday with the most exciting of them Hillcrest’s commanding win in the Grade 2 Prestige Novices’ Hurdle at Haydock.

Speaking on Luck On Sunday, Daly was quick to reference the race time posted by Hillcrest being much faster than Wholestone and Foillan who won over the same course and distance, a statement which only scratches the surface of the time-figure and sectional data achieved by the giant son of Stowaway.

The final circuit times bring the races closer together with Foillan (125) the quickest, although to contextualise his performance against Hillcrest, Foillan would have started his final circuit a furlong behind.

Nigel Twiston-Davies deserves the upmost respect for producing Wholestone (130) to win off such a long lay-off but as his gelding covered the final circuit the slowest it served as further confirmation that the Grade 2 Rendlesham was substandard.

To put the gloss on his performance Hillcrest also finished off his race powerfully. After being clumsy at the third last, Hillcrest was accurate at the last two flights to stop the clock in 51secs; in comparison the juvenile Porticello (already a Grade 1 winner) clocked 53.6secs.

All grounds come alike to Hillcrest, as do the contours of either Cheltenham or Aintree so wherever his trainer decides to tackle a Grade 1 he is one to follow.

The performance of Crystal Glory, who finished second in the Prestige, should not be underestimated as he was closer at the line than when passing the stands with a circuit to run.