Williams puts rivals in the shade

Those who began the New Year here, of all places, had presumably made any vows of self-improvement in a spirit either foolhardy or heroic. At every turn, their numbed senses were promised stimulation, whether by bookmakers, alcohol or carbohydrates. Judging by the length of the queues for all three, their appeal remains undiminished to most.

Venetia Williams, who saddled Stan to win the day's most valuable prize, distilled the general mood by escorting him to the winner's enclosure in sunglasses – a curious accessory on such a raw, murky afternoon. It turned out that had simply been unable to find her usual prescription spectacles. But even those whose eyes were smarting, or bloodshot, might have seen that to be here at all demonstrated that resolutions of betterment do sometimes pay off.

For temperatures had dwindled to minus seven here on Tuesday night, and barely groped above freezing since. Every twig in the Cotswolds had turned to marzipan, and Cleeve Hill itself was smeared white. Thanks to frost blankets, however, over 23,000 paying adults managed to get the children out of the house – a record crowd for the fixture, and due reward for the management after their misfortune last month, when they had lost a card to waterlogging for the first time in 25 years. Edward Gillespie, their boss, admitted that two years ago – before the blankets innovation – the meeting would have been abandoned on New Year's Eve.

The sport made it all worthwhile, too. It was pitched just right, rekindling the embers without perhaps requiring the faculties to be at their very sharpest, with the future in mind. Even Calgary Bay, the one horse who palpably demanded attention in the months ahead, is unlikely to return here for the Festival in March. Henrietta Knight, his trainer, suspects that the horse will fall between stools, in terms of distance and experience, and may instead favour a new novice chase over two and a half miles at Aintree.

Regardless, Calgary Bay certainly produced a striking exhibition over that kind of trip in the Dipper Novices' Chase, his one error – at the top of the hill – all the more conspicuous in a round of jumping that was otherwise quite brilliant. Sent into the lead by Tony McCoy approaching two out, he was followed through by Ruby Walsh on Kicks For Free, but saw them off with another energetic leap over the last before bounding eagerly up the hill.

"Massive, isn't he?" Knight observed in the winner's enclosure. "I think he must be the tallest I've ever trained. Hitting that fence probably did him good. You've got to make one mistake in your life, and you've got to learn from it. But he is still very inexperienced, and while I've no doubt he will get three miles, I'm not sure he'd be ready for the RSA Chase."

But her essential enthusiasm for the horse was unmistakable – and echoed by McCoy, too. "As athletic a big horse as I've ridden," he said. "And very intelligent."

Walsh gained his revenge on McCoy with Big Buck's, the other talent on view clearly eligible for the big spring festivals. This was the animal whose clumsy display in the Hennessy Gold Cup proved the last straw for Sam Thomas during Walsh's recent absence through injury. Paul Nicholls, his trainer, decided to try him over smaller obstacles in the Unicoin Homes Handicap Hurdle, and Big Buck's rewarded that initiative by giving 16lb to another recalcitrant steeplechaser in Don't Push It. McCoy had the latter challenging strongly over the last, but Walsh was always in control thereafter, albeit his mount's idleness in front kept the winning margin below two lengths.

"I knew this horse had a lot of ability," Nicholls said. "The better the race, the better he'll go, and Ruby said he was probably left in front too soon today. But I said to Andy [Stewart, the owner] that it might not be the right thing to go the Gold Cup route this year, when we have those other two [Denman and Kauto Star] in the yard and he still lacks grounding. Now that he has won today, we'll probably come back here for the Cleeve Hurdle."

The sponsors duly introduced him at 14-1 for the Ladbrokes World Hurdle. Nicholls added that Denman was now "99 per cent" certain to wait for the Aon Chase at Newbury next month for his reappearance, and did not close the door on the possibility that the Gold Cup winner would be given an entry in the John Smith's Grand National.

That race, still the focus of an unrequited craving in McCoy, will no doubt feature prominently among the champion jockey's New Year resolutions. Alan King, who won the opener for the second year running, will doubtless settle for a repeat performance from Katchit in the Smurfit Champion Hurdle, following defeats in all three starts this season. "I'm sending him off on holiday," he said. "I just want to give him a complete break, freshen him up. He's still in the mix. I made a total mess of running him at Wincanton. I thought he needed match practice but he's not been firing since."

King added that Voy Por Ustedes would be dropped back in trip, after his experiment over three miles behind Kauto Star at Kempton. For his part, King's main ambition is to swear less. "But I fell out of bed this morning," he said. "So that was the end of that."