'Cheltenham is always a dream' - Knight Salute set for the top after Summit win

Saturday: Doncaster

Knight Salute reaffirmed his claims of being Britain's leading juvenile hurdler after racking up his fourth straight win in the Grade 2 bet365 Summit Juvenile Hurdle.

Trained by the resurgent Milton Harris, the ex-Flat performer won the Triumph trial at Cheltenham last month, but was sent off joint 4-1 second-favourite behind 6-4 hotpot Porticello.

Having travelled strongly into contention, Knight Salute picked up after the last under Paddy Brennan to hold the rallying Porticello by three quarters of a length, after which Betfair Sportsbook cut his Triumph Hurdle odds to 12-1 (from 20-1).

"Everyone keeps putting a question mark next to him, but what more can he have done?" said part-owner Mark Adams. "He keeps giving a bit more each time – he's not holding anything back – but he's always had a bit in hand.

"Any race at Cheltenham is always a dream and today was going to be a big test for which way we go – why wouldn't we go for the Triumph after that?"

The £60,000 contest looked the strongest juvenile hurdle to be run in Britain so far this season and Brennan had nothing but praise for the winner, who remains unbeaten over hurdles.

"He was good today, he wants to win and I'll let him do the talking," he said. "Milton's doing well and was really pleased with him – he rang me three times to tell me he was going to win.

"It was a brilliant bit of placing and we've earned enough money today to help towards Santa Claus."

Threeunderthrufive digs deep

Threeunderthrufive continued his winning ways in the Grade 2 bet365 December Novices' Chase to keep the Max McNeill bandwagon rolling on.

The Paul Nicholls-trained six-year-old overcame the odd jumping error to score decisively under Adrian Heskin for the in-form owner, who has celebrated 13 winners in the last month.

In taking his overall record to eight wins in 11 starts, Threeunderthrufive provided Nicholls with a fourth victory in the last nine runnings of the race.

"He's never going to be too flashy, but he gets the job done," said McNeill's racing manager Ian Turner, standing in with the owner at Cheltenham.

Threeunderthrufive: landed Graded success at Doncaster on SaturdayCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

"He's got the experience and will have a break now and I'd say his next target might be the Reynoldstown, or possibly the Lingfield race at the end of January in the million series."

Threeunderthrufive was cut by Betfair Sportsbook to 8-1 (from 12-1) for the National Hunt Chase and 16-1 (from 20) for the Broadway Novices' Chase.

Turner added: "I think he's a bit quicker than people give him credit for and the three-miler might suit him. All options are open and if it was 50-50 we'd go with the three-miler because we'd want to keep Adrian on him."

Xciting times

You should always be willing to forgive a horse a bad run. Xcitations was a case in point after he bounced back from a below-par display when last of five at Fakenham last month.

Much more at home on the long, sweeping straights of Town Moor, the Pam Sly-trained six-year-old showed his best at the finish to get off the mark over fences in the 2m½f handicap chase under Paul O'Brien.

A two-time winner over hurdles, Xcitations had shown promise on his chase debut at Huntington prior to the Fakenham no-show.

"He never got into a rhythm at Fakenham, it was a disaster from the start," said Sly. "He met the first wrong and every one wrong after that."

Xcitations is a Sly homebred who is related to Actinpieces and Haafapiece, and the trainer owns a share in the 7-1 winner.

"He's a very nice horse and a lovely jumper, which is one of the main things, and you could probably step him up to two miles-two on a sharper track," she added.

Results, replays and analysis

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Upping The Ante star Gavin Lynch joins the Racing Post roster for a weekly Saturday column throughout the jumps season. He'll offer a guide to the weekend action, highlight the horses and races to watch and share his punting wisdom. Read it every Saturday in the Racing Post or online from 4pm every Friday, exclusively for Members' Club subscribers. Sign up to Members' Club here for more top jumps season insight.