Majborough has been given the x symbol by Timeform, denoting a poor jumper, following his defeat in Wednesday’s BetMGM Champion Chase.
Majborough, the 5/6 favourite, headed into the race as the highest-rated chaser in training on 179 (now 177x), but after mistakes at the eighth and ninth fences he already looked beaten when making another shuddering error at the third last.
At the business end of the race, stablemate Il Etait Temps swept clear to beat Libberty Hunter by ten lengths (replay below).
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Timeform’s Jumps Editor Dan Barber said: “Il Etait Temps was really strong in the market and I suppose it shows a month or two can be a very long time in racing.
“Prior to Ascot he looked like the coming force in the division, takes a heavy fall there, then there are doubts about his participation. But what he showed on Wednesday was Cheltenham isn’t an issue for him despite suggestions it might be, and it also underlined the skills of Paul Townend.
“And the importance of jumping at Cheltenham has been underlined again. That’s two years running when Majborough has gone from looking imperious to almost on the floor and that’s led us to give his rating an x, which denotes the fences, especially here, do seem a big issue for him.
“Maybe you could question the rating of 179 coming into this, and he didn’t live up to it, but we still feel he put up a monster performance at the DRF even if he wasn’t able to repeat it today.
“But if he went back to the DRF in ten months’ time and the ground was testing again he’d be way closer to that 179 and may even reproduce it. But horses are conditional, ratings are conditional and this is one instance where a horse isn’t effective on one track but pretty devastating under a different set of circumstances elsewhere.
“I don’t think the bare form shows Il Etait Temps had to show any improvement today, Libberty Hunter was second, and L’Eau du Sud was played earlier, as he was in the Arkle, and I don’t think he finished the race. We’ve restored the winner’s rating to 174 which he was after the Tingle Creek.
“But I think Townend just doesn’t make mistakes and he’s closing in fast now on Barry Geraghty’s number of Festival winners. That’s a case of when now and not if, isn’t it?”
Constitution Hill, who is now set to continue his career on the Flat, also has the Timeform 'x' symbol attached to his hurdles rating after falling on three of his last four starts over jumps.
Cheltenham Festival coverage
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