Eddie Hales saw Conflated's potential and he matured gradually to fulfil it

Last week I wrote about the influence of Irish point-to-point graduates on the novice hurdling scene.

Before we leave the Christmas period behind I want to look back at a few of the main chases in the last week of the old year.

Once again, horses from a point-to-point background excelled. Best of all was the King George winner Bravemansgame, who made it six wins from seven races over fences in winning the Kempton feature.