ONE of the two races that Gordon Elliott did not win at Punchestown on Thursday (both of which, incidentally, were won by Noel Meade) was the Irish Daily Star Chase. That was won by Road To Respect, who confirmed what his trainer Noel Meade had probably suspected for a little while – that he can be trained as a Gold Cup horse this season.

There was a lot to like about the performance that the Gigginstown House horse put up. He was only fifth best of the seven runners on official ratings. He had to concede 2lb to Sub Lieutenant, who was rated 5lb superior to him, and he had to concede 10lb to Minella Rocco, who was rated 8lb superior to him. So he was 7lb and 18lb respectively worse off with that pair than he would have been had Thursday’s race been a handicap.