LAST weekend’s feast of top-class National Hunt racing featured some of the most highly-rated and exciting horses in training, and it also revealed some young up-and-coming individuals who could take their place among the stars later in the season.

Shantou Village is one of the latter and the Neil Mulholland-trained gelding extended his unbeaten record with a 15-length score in the Grade 2 Neptune Investment Management Novices’ Hurdle (registered as the Hyde Novices’ Hurdle) over two miles, five furlongs at Cheltenham on Friday week.