Timeform ratings: the best-handicapped chaser heading to Cheltenham

Ratings experts Timeform make the Sam Thomas-trained Katate Dori (144+) the best-handicapped British chaser heading to next week’s Cheltenham Festival, with a Timeform rating seven pounds in advance of his official BHA mark.

Other chasers that are rated considerably higher with Timeform are Jagwar (144p), Haiti Couleurs (140p) and Transmission (138p), who are all thought to be five pounds well-in compared to their BHA ratings.

Entries: Ultima Handicap Chase, National Hunt Novices' Handicap Chase, Kim Muir Handicap Chase.

Katate Dori failed to win over hurdles, but he has quickly made up into a much better chaser and he took his record over fences to three wins from four starts when running away with the valuable Ladbrokes Trophy Handicap Chase at Kempton recently.

Katate Dori has been hit with a 12 lb rise in the weights following that 15-length success, but even that might underestimate him given how dominant he proved at Kempton, where he registered the greatest winning margin in the race since Gunther McBride scored by 17 lengths in 2002.

Katate Dori was initially ridden with patience, but he made rapid headway to go close up before the seventh and galloped on relentlessly after jumping on at the fifth last. It's possible that he may not be fully over those exertions by the time Cheltenham comes around, given it will be little more than two weeks since he posted such a big effort, but it's unlikely that his revised mark will be a problem. 

Handicap Entry: National Hunt Novices' Handicap Chase.

Haiti Couleurs had to settle for second on his chasing debut in a novice handicap at Chepstow but he clearly learned plenty from that experience as he went on to win two similar events at Aintree and Cheltenham, with the latter contest won in a good timefigure that suggests a 5 lb rise in the weights could be lenient.

There was a lot to like about how Haiti Couleurs went through that race at Cheltenham, going with zest and jumping soundly in the main, and he kept on well when driven out to beat another progressive last-time winner in Transmission by two and three-quarter lengths, with Peaky Boy a head back in third and the trio well clear of the remainder who were led home by subsequent Cheltenham winner Moon d'Orange.

Connections have since kept Haiti Couleurs' handicap mark under wraps by only running him in a handicap hurdle at Newbury, where he shaped encouragingly in third.

Entries: National Hunt Novices' Handicap Chase, Kim Muir Handicap Chase.

Transmission could renew rivalry with Haiti Couleurs if taking up his engagement in the National Hunt Novices' Handicap Chase and he too looks to be ahead of the handicapper.

He has edged up only 1 lb with the BHA for that performance, where he kept on well having had plenty to do, leaving the impression he would stay longer distances.

Timeform took a more positive view of that performance and his Timeform rating went up 5 lb, while, like Haiti Couleurs, he still has the 'small p' to show he's likely to improve further.

Entries: Novices' Handicap Chase, Festival Plate.

The Timeform Novices' Handicap Chase, run at Cheltenham on Trials Day, has established itself as a significant Festival pointer and the latest winner, Jagwar, is likely to be a leading player in whichever handicap he contests as he still looks to be on a good mark.

Jagwar went up 7 lb for his stylish success on Trials Day but that victory, which took his record over fences to three wins from four starts, was achieved with plenty in hand and he still has the Timeform small 'p' attached to his rating. The way Jagwar tanked through that contest suggests he will appreciate an even stronger gallop which looks likely to materialise at the Festival.

Three of the last six winners of the Timeform Novices' Handicap Chase prior to Jagwar went on to win at the Festival, including Mister Whitaker, who landed the Novices' Handicap Chase, and Simply The Betts, who won the Festival Plate.