Smart Skipper leads small stables' fight back against big guns

Almost inevitably, the increasing dominance of a small cohort of trainers and an elite group of owners is destined to be one of the principal themes of the 2016-17 season. The real business of the winter campaign is only now beginning, and the subject has already been widely aired.

And yet there have been notable exceptions to the general trend, none more than dramatic than Sunday's Fortria Chase at Navan, in which Arctic Skipper, trained in County Waterford by Vincent Halley, got the better of last season's Grand National fourth Gilgamboa in a driving finish.

It is not difficult to pick holes in the form, since the two-mile trip was a negative for both runner-up and the third Ballycasey, and the ground had gone against fourth-placed The Game Changer. Never mind, this was a case where we should look beyond the academic detail to celebrate a terrific achievement by a small stable, and a really tough performance by a horse who joins a distinguished roll-call of Fortria winners in which Champion Chase heroes Moscow Flyer and Big Zeb stand out.