WHOLESTONE has sufficient class that he’s been campaigned towards the Stayers Hurdle but his record, and sectional analysis of his performances, suggests conclusively that he’s best over the intermediate trip: I have him a 160 horse over the two-and-a-half-mile trip, and half a stone inferior to that over three miles.

He didn’t need to run to quite that level to win a solidly-run conditions event at Aintree – I rated the performance 157 – but there was enough in that performance to suggest he retains all of his considerable ability.