Cheltenham Festival cuts for two exciting novices - but I couldn't have one of them on my mind

There were a couple of hurdles debutants getting Cheltenham Festival quotes last weekend and potentially the most exciting horse to race across the two days was Mister Meggit, who made short work of beating his rivals over two and a half miles at Aintree on Saturday.

There are two ways I assess the quality of a race: by studying the collateral form and by comparing the sectional times to other races run on the card. 

The horses who chased home Mister Meggit aren’t easy to quantify. Runner-up Off The Jury was making his hurdles debut having shown fair, but not outstanding, bumper form last season; Kepler’s Law, who finished third, came into the race having been a convincing winner of a modest Irish point in April, after which he was sold for £20,000 at the Goffs store sale; the fourth Followcato, had been placed in a bumper and point in the early part of this year. On balance, based on form, I’m not sure it was a great race.