Iceo showed massive improvement - wherever he goes next he should get even better

The Imperial Cup Handicap Hurdle at Sandown is traditionally the last big race before the Cheltenham Festival, and Iceo was a good winner on Saturday, improving for his second start of the season and achieving a career-high Racing Post Rating of 143.

Iceo looked a horse to follow when impressing as a juvenile on his British debut in 2021, achieving an RPR of 130. He failed to improve on it last season, but after almost a year off the track he shaped encouragingly on his reappearance at Sandown in January. He improved 12lb on that effort to win convincingly at the weekend, and the future looks promising for the lightly raced five-year-old should he continue on this trajectory.

The Imperial Cup was a competitive race with a solid look to it. Knickerbockerglory (136), just over three lengths back in second, achieved a career-best RPR over hurdles after a 108-day absence. Having posted a higher rating over fences on his previous two outings, it is likely there's still more to come from him. Playful Saint (140) finished third in what was also a career-best effort, improving on an easy win at Leicester when last seen.