Too much of the same has left us wanting to see jumps stars face handicap tests

There has unsurprisingly been considerable debate about only three horses turning up for the Clarence House Chase. Many people have called for the race to once again become a handicap, and they are right.

This is far from a new conversation. There has been regular lamenting of the decision to, in effect, kill off the old Victor Chandler Chase, a handicap, and create a new Grade 1 level-weights event, nine of the last 11 winners of which have come home at 1-10, 1-5, 1-4, 4-9, 1-2, 1-2, 4-7, 5-4 and 11-8. It was lovely to see Altior in action on Saturday but, as connections freely admitted, he barely realised he was in a race.

Altior was the latest short-priced winner of the Clarence House ChaseCredit: Edward Whitaker

In a somewhat radical deviation from normality this column has previously expressed fondness for the Group/Grade 1 Flat handicaps that take place in Australia and America. There is precious little chance of such races being staged here – although the revamped £1 million Sky Bet Ebor represents a step in that direction – but there is enough momentum behind a revision of the jumps programme for change to be a realistic possibility.