Kempton's Racing Post Chase card got underway with a competitive handicap hurdle which featured a number of horses with Festival aspirations.

The one that caught the eye of the punters was the unexposed Thundering Star who was returning from a break having had two quick runs on unsuitably testing ground in December and the step up in trip was also expected to suit this useful Flat stayer.

He didn't really impress in the paddock but his performance in the race was worse as he never went a yard nor jumped a hurdle with any fluency.

It's a testament to the horse's resolve and that of his jockey that he jumped the last in contention but he always looked held on the run-in and could finish only third behind Lucy Wadham's Eleazar who was having his first start since September 2007.

The Dovecote Novices' Hurdle was a Grade Two contest which promised plenty but delivered little.

Conflictofinterest had been touted as a Ditcheat dark horse for the Supreme Novices' whilst Ainama was a strong fancy for the same race following his course and distance defeat of Hebridean. They weren't a terribly prepossessing bunch in the paddock although Ainama, a neat individual, looked well as did Trenchant who appears to have plenty of scope as he strengthens with age.

Huntingdon had staged the Sidney Banks Memorial Novices' Hurdle on Thursday which saw leading fancies McMurrough and Son Of Flicka fail to run their races; they had previously finished second and third behind Alfie Flits at Haydock in a race in which Dee Ee Williams was a leading fancy but failed to act on the ground.

It's possible that several of the runners may have left their races behind at Haydock as Dee Ee Williams became the third horse from that race to disappoint with a lacklustre run, finishing last of the fancied runners some ten lengths adrift of Alfie Flits who narrowly lost out for the places in the sprint for the line.

Ainama was sent off at odds-on and was held up off an unsatisfactorily slow pace which caused him to race a shade keenly and may not have helped his less than impressive hurdling. He jumped the last two flights poorly which certainly contributed to his defeat but he, Conflictofinterest and Alfie Flits who all raced towards the inside of the track appeared to be labouring on the run-in.

Trenchant had appeared to be labouring on the turn into the straight as the pace quickened but he came home strongest of all under the stands' side rail - which may or may not have been a deliberate tactical move to challenge away from the field - to win going away.

This result surprised connections and he's now likely to have to swerve his intended target of the Fred Winter in favour of a possible tilt at the JCB Triumph Hurdle; any which way, his victory paid a handsome compliment to Torphicen who had comfortably accounted for Alan King's runner by a shade under four lengths at Sandown earlier in the month. As for the remainder, well it leaves their connections with plenty of headscratching to do and, if the exchanges are anything to go by, then Ainama may not be lining up at Cheltenham as rumours of a flat track bias abound.

One horse who will be lining up for the Supreme Novices' is Red Moloney following another facile success at Musselburgh on Friday from Fred Winter entry Houston Dynimo but all three of his victories have been achieved over the same course and distance at odds of 5-6, 1-5 and 2-5.

He may have been smart on the level, may have joined top connections who know how to train Festival winners and may have won all of his starts with the ease that his odds suggest but his prominent position in the market owes everything to a mixture of the aforementioned and little to the bare facts as viewed in the cold light of day.

The Racing Post Chase was the fourth contest on the card and saw a sublime performance from Nacarat under a superbly executed and tactically astute ride from Tony McCoy. The winner will not be heading to Cheltenham and neither will the third, Big Fella Thanks, who ran a fine Grand National trial in staying on for third.

However, the second home will be of keen interest in a fortnight's time providing that the ground continues to dry out as Henry Daly's Possol is an upwardly mobile young chaser with Festival form and track form to his name and he fully deserves his position towards the fore of the market for the William Hill Handicap Chase for which he makes a good deal of appeal at this stage of proceedings although the ground is key to his chances.

Hold Em ran a gallant race in fourth and can be rated a little better than the bare form as he was the only one able to go with the winner as the pace quickened into the home straight and those exertions told close him but his only entry is in the RSA Chase.

Piraya took another step in the right direction in finishing seventh and may yet fulfil his trainer's early season hopes but he has a myriad of entries over the four days of the Festival and it remains to be seen where he turns up.

The Adonis Juvenile Novices' Hurdle followed the feature handicap and it's usually informative but this year's field appeared to be a pretty ordinary bunch (although again, Alan King's runners took the eye in the paddock) with the possible exception of the ready winner Hebridean.

He reportedly heads to Aintree and is pleasing his connections but he may not be one to trust implicitly when the chips are down.

The card finished with an intriguing bumper but the intrigue lasted around the length of time it took for the tape to go up with Bellvano (a Musselburgh winner and reportedly the leading Seven Barrows contender for the Festival) left motionless someway adrift from the field.

King's Legacy had run in the Wincanton bumper on Boxing Day in which his yard has saddled some of their best prospects in recent years but, rather like his debut, he didn't see the race out as well as he threatened to a quarter of a mile from home. Ballybach had been well supported in a Grade 2 on debut and looked the picture of health in the paddock and he threw down the gauntlet to the Nicholls' runner who won the duel by half a length but this race is unlikely to have any bearing on events in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper.