New chasing stars already emerging, so keep your eyes peeled

There are a multitude of ways a trainer can prepare an exciting addition to the novice chase ranks for a big spring target, but many choose to chart a straight course to the big festivals with their top prospects.

At Perth last week, the Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained Ballyandy, who has a Champion Bumper success and a Supreme Novice fourth on his CV, set out on the road to a festival Grade 1 novice chase target with a hard-fought debut win over fences.

Ballyandy achieved a Racing Post Rating of 143, which is at least 20lb below the likely standard required to win the JLT Novices' Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, and given he is officially rated 147 over hurdles, all we learned at Perth was that the six-year-old retains his ability and, crucially, has the spring in his legs to jump fences.