Top Notch's '˜massive heart' lauded by Daryl Jacob

The six-year-old led home stablemate Josses Hill at Taunton to complete a memorable one-two for trainer Nicky Henderson.

The Grade Two race, over an extended two and a half miles, was switched to the Somerset track following Huntingdon’s abandonment last Sunday.

In beating a select field, the Simon Munir and Isaac Souede-owned gelding established himself as a leading contender for the Ryanair Chase at next year’s Cheltenham Festival – this success followed a pleasing triumph at Ascot last month.

“He is a wonderful horse and one of my favourite horses in training. He is small, but he has got a massive heart,” said a visibly elated Jacob.

“His Ascot win was probably more impressive, but the ground was very dead out there. I’m just delighted he has won.”

Taking over matters at the penultimate fence from Josses Hill, the odds-on favourite quickly opened up after the last to score by three and a quarter lengths.

Top Notch’s rise to prominence has come as a pleasant surprise to Henderson, who would be considering the horse for Kempton’s King George VI Chase on Boxing Day if it was not for the presence in the big race of Bristol De Mai who is in the same ownership.

“When he was a juvenile over hurdles, Guillaume Macaire said make the most of this horse as there is no improvement in him only because he lacks that scope,” said Henderson.

“If it wasn’t for Bristol De Mai, I would have been gagging to have a go at the King George and have a look at it.”

Taunton also saw Somerset-born teenager Harry Cobden complete a double at his local track courtesy of Brahms De Clermont and the rapidly improving Our Merlin, who has now won three races on the bounce.

It continues the 19-year-old’s rich vein of form following Politologue’s Grade One success in Sandown’s feature Tingle Creek Chase last Saturday.

Hayley Turner has been suspended from riding for three months after the opening of an internet betting account saw her charged by the British Horseracing Authority with a breach of the rules governing betting by jockeys.

Britain’s most successful woman jockey officially retired from the saddle at the end of the 2015 turf season and, after initially establishing a media career with At The Races and ITV Racing, Turner recently opted to return to race riding in France.

However, Turner’s decision to open an online account following her initial retirement prompted a BHA inquiry as she technically still held a licence, leaving the rider in breach of the rules.

She was said to be “absolutely devastated at her mistake” and “deeply embarrassed” by the situation when charges were announced earlier this month.

The ban takes immediate effect although Turner can still visit and work on racecourses and other licensed premises in the interim.

A contrite Turner said last night: “At the end of the day I made a huge mistake and have to suffer the penalty as I did break the rules.

“The problem was I saw myself as a television pundit rather than as a jockey, which explains as to why I started betting while working on ATR and on ITV.

“Three months is a long time and I do think it is quite harsh, especially as I have a mortgage to pay, but I have just got to take it on the chin.”

Colin Tizzard has put a line through Finian’s Oscar’s below-par run at Sandown.

The Grade One-winning novice hurdler had won his first two over fences without much fuss, but dropped to two miles for the Henry VIII Novices’ Chase he was never in real contention and was last of three finishers.

Finian’s Oscar could reappear at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day. “We don’t really know why he didn’t lie up last week. Was it all pace? I don’t know. We will put a line through it and you can see he wasn’t quite himself,” said Tizzard.

Jonjo O’Neill’s More Of That, the 2014 Stayers’ Hurdle winner at Cheltenham, will try to rejuvenate his career by lining up in today’s Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase at the Cotswolds track.

The line-up includes Michael Scudamore’s Kingswell Theatre, who will need to defy an 8lb higher mark after making all over the course in November under the trainer’s brother Tom.