THE going at Cheltenham caught nearly as many headlines as the winners and, off the bare results, Heart Wood was a horse that benefited from it, writes Page Fuller.

He finished second in last year’s Ryanair Chase, and I think we would be unwise to assume that Heart Wood won by default in Fact To File’s absence. This was quite a taking performance on the data, and the key was his ability to quicken off a strong pace on faster ground. Due to the going, the early pace was a lot stronger. Heart Wood approached the first four fences on average at 31.74 mph, compared to 31.27 mph last year. Fact To File last year only averaged 30.93 mph. Because of this early pace, it also unsettled Jonbon, as it has at Cheltenham, and I believe it would have been similiar with Fact To File, who struggled with the speed in the King George on this ground.