John and Might Bite stand out among the festival heroes

None of the four winners to post Racing Post Ratings of 176 or above at a vintage 2016 festival made it back to Cheltenham last week and it was perhaps not too surprising that, for only the second time in the past decade, the meeting passed without any horse posting an RPR of 175 or above.

The Gold Cup hero Sizing John (174) returned the week's best rating when running out a decisive winner. Admittedly, it wasn't quite the brutal stamina test of the previous two Gold Cups, but the winner clearly stays very well and, as a progressive seven-year-old, he should be back to defend his crown next year.

Conversely this was probably the last chance for Cue Card, who was under pressure when falling at the third-last but might still have played a part in the finish.