BALLYANDY was promoted to the top of most ante-post lists for the Cheltenham Bumper after he landed the finale at Newbury on Saturday, and that was an understandable course of action.

There was a lot to like about his performance. Visually, it was impressive. Nigel Twiston-Davies’ horse travelled like the most likely winner from a long way out, he hit the front a half a mile from home and he galloped all the way to the line. He only beat six rivals, but five of them were previous winners and three of them were unbeaten under Rules (if you count Gayebury’s first-past-the-post at Ffos Las as a win) going into Saturday’s race. (Runner-up Positively Dylan also ran a nice race.) And the winner was conceding 4lb and 10lb and 14lb to his rivals.