Low sun issues an avoidable nuisance - but here's how to make them pay

Sunday was Forest Bihan's day. He is a deeply talented chaser with the speed for two miles, but competing as a top two-miler, as he had over the last couple of seasons, places an exacting standard on his jumping which he sometimes fails to match.

There was always a chance that stepping up to two and a half miles for the Old Roan Chase would ease that pressure just enough. That there were only ten fences to jump, rather than the expected 16, really did put things in his favour. Even his trainer Brian Ellison, on hearing of the omissions, admitted to thinking: "He can't get beat now."

Of course, the opposite applies to Frodon, who put in a rare below-form effort. While the idea that he was "confused" by missing out late fences is met with some scepticism, there is no doubt that he was disadvantaged, perhaps every bit as much as Forest Bihan benefited.