'He'll be a tough nut to crack in any staying chase' - Tom Segal with his take on last week's jumps action

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It's amazing how differently we perceive things, because last week all I seemed to read was what a prefect return to the track Allaho made, while there was lots of negativity surrounding Gerri Colombe's winning return at Down Royal. I couldn't have seen it more differently, and while I'm not for one minute writing off Allaho I was massively underwhelmed by his return.

In a three-runner race in which his stablemate looked half fit and the other runner was rated about two stone inferior, Allaho jumped sloppily and won in a time a good bit slower than Allegorie De Vassy's winning time in the mares' chase over the same distance. Just because he'd been off the track for a bit everyone seemed to be very pleased, but I reckon Gerri Colombe would have won that race by a distance on what he showed at Down Royal, while Allaho would have never beaten Envoi Allen and Conflated on what he showed on Thursday.