The ante-post market is out of control - three things we learned this week

A mixed weekend, to put it lightly, saw what should have been one of the best cards of the jumps season at Ascot descend into farce, while Protektorat put in one of the performances of the season to win the Betfair Chase as A Plus Tard was pulled up. Here are three things we learned from the week's racing . . .

1. Protektorat can emulate Bristol De Mai and become a Haydock legend

Harry Skelton's celebration as he crossed the line clear on Protektorat in the Betfair Chase told you everything you needed to know.

The Gold Cup third had been prepped impeccably for the big occasion by the winning jockey's brother Dan on his first start of the season and since a wind operation.

Protektorat thrived on the same soft ground, in which he bolted up in last season's Many Clouds Chase, to pull 11 lengths clear of Eldorado Allen.

Given that there has been only one Irish-trained winner of the Betfair Chase since its inauguration in 2005, and that Protektorat is clearly the best of the British in the staying chase division, he could dominate the Haydock Grade 1 in a similar fashion to Bristol De Mai.

Protektorat is only a seven-year-old and he could emulate or even better Bristol De Mai's three wins in the race. It is a valuable Grade 1 in its own right and Protektorat can potentially make it his own for years to come.
Charlie Huggins

2. A Plus Tard may have left his best behind in the Gold Cup

Once all the necessary checks are done at home an explanation may emerge, but nothing has shown up immediately and the possibility has to be there that A Plus Tard's stunning Cheltenham Gold Cup victory may have taken more out of him than we realised.

He relished the Cheltenham in one of the most impressive performances we'd seen in the Gold Cup in years, yet he never looked comfortable in the Betfair Chase and folded tamely, despite Henry de Bromhead saying he could not have been happier with the eight-year-old in the build-up.

A Plus Tard: was pulled up before three out in the Betfair ChaseCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

The top trainer was not in the mood to make any excuses, saying that the run was "too bad to be true". Hopefully he is right and A Plus Tard can bounce back in time for the Savills Chase and the Gold Cup again in March.

A Plus Tard may be only an eight-year-old, but he has plenty of miles on the clock already having raced twice more than his year-older stablemate Minella Indo.

No horse should be written off after one bad run, but this would be far from the first time a monumental performance would have emptied a horse.
Sam Hendry

3. The ante-post market is out of control

Any punters hoping for some value in the ante-post markets for jump racing's biggest races would have been left most disappointed over the course of the week.

There hasn't been much juice in Jonbon's Arkle price all year and any liquid left evaporated sharply after he beat Monmiral on his chasing debut on Wednesday. A fine performance but 7-4? Really?

State Man: as short as 4-1 for the Champion HurdleCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

On Sunday, Coral upstaged that by deeming State Man worthy of being only half a point bigger in price for the Champion Hurdle than dual winner Honeysuckle (4-1 State Man, 7-2 Honeysuckle).

He was undoubtedly impressive in the Morgiana, but was beating a near-ten-year-old in Sharjah having his first run in 11 months and Saldier, who has not been a force at the top for several years.

Add in Galopin Des Champs' unexplained dive in the King George market and punters are being left severely short-changed.
Sam Hendry

Read more from The Last Word . . .

'Daryl Jacob knew what he had to do – but Bristol didn't have it in him'

Why did A Plus Tard flop in the Betfair Chase? There's one obvious answer

Performance of a Gold Cup winner? Our ratings expert's verdict on Protektorat

Catch our in-depth review of the weekend's racing every Monday in the Racing Post. With big-race analysis from Grand National-winning jockey Leighton Aspell, Chris Cook's take on the weekend action, eyecatchers from the Raceform team, and our thoughts on what we learned from the week.