Pied Piper, an effortless nine-length winner at Cheltenham on Saturday, has jumped to the head of Timeform's juvenile hurdle standings.
Pied Piper, a useful performer on the Flat for John Gosden, made a winning start over hurdles for Gordon Elliott at Punchestown on New Year's Eve - beating the highly regarded Vauban - and he raised his game to follow up in impressive style in the Grade 2 Triumph Trial.
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That hard-held success earned Pied Piper a Timeform rating of 141p, passing the benchmark previously set by Finale Hurdle winner Porticello (140p) and wide-margin Kempton winner Iceo (140).
Iceo was a disappointing fourth on Saturday but he was by no means the only Paul Nicholls runner who failed to meet expectations at the weekend, and he is better judged for now on his Kempton effort.
Pied Piper represents the same connections as Fil Dor (137p), a comfortable winner on all three starts since joining Elliott and being sent hurdling. Fil Dor, a winner of a Grade 2 at Leopardstown on his latest outing, had dominated the Triumph Hurdle betting but he has been usurped at the head of that market by Pied Piper and connections now face a choice about whether to split their aces and send one to the Supreme.
Saturday's result also provided a boost to the Triumph Hurdle claims of Vauban (130P), who had been half a length behind Pied Piper at Punchestown. It was notable how strong in the betting Vauban was before that debut for Willie Mullins and Rich Ricci - he was sent off at 4/9 - and he may well have won had he jumped better. He has the Timeform Large P attached to his rating, indicating that he remains open to significant improvement.
For context, last year's Triumph Hurdle winner Quilixios ran to a Timeform rating of 148. That is similar to the ten-year average in the race, which is around 149.
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