Dato Star has nearly another stone to find to trouble dual Champion Hurdler Istabraq at Cheltenham, the official handicapper revealed today.
Saturday's runaway Haydock Park winner has been raised 4lb by British Horseracing Board hurdles assessor Philip Judge.
But he is still 12lb adrift of the mark set by Irish star Istabraq, who is odds-on to strike again at Cheltenham after completing a hat-trick in the AIG Europe Champion Hurdle on Sunday.
Reflecting on Dato Star's 17-length defeat of Relkeel, Judge said: "At the moment, though things are not yet finalised, I intend to put Dato Star up from 168 to 172, the same mark as after he won the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle last season which was also a very good performance.
"I have not been able to get hold of Noel O'Brien, the senior Irish handicapper, but I have spoken to Andy Shaw his assistant and they do not believe that Istabraq did anything more yesterday than he had done in his best performances to date.
"So they will be leaving him on 174 on their figures but we add 10lb to fit in with ours and he will be on 184 as far as we are concerned, I am quite happy to go along with their assessments."
Expanding on his rating of Dato Star, Judge added: "I don't think Haydock is Relkeel's track and I think he would have got closer to Dato Star at Cheltenham, while Far Cry made mistakes at crucial times.
"I will not be changing his or Far Cry's ratings, I will revert to what happened when they met at Cheltenham. Relkeel is on 166 and although I have not had to put a mark on Far Cry yet as he is still a novice but I would have him at around 160, he was receiving 6lb and just got beaten by Relkeel at Cheltenham.
"So I will handicap Dato Star from Master Beveled who finished third on Saturday, beaten just over 20 lengths. He usually runs to his mark and I have him on 150.
"I think it is fair to say that Dato Star is the best hurdler in this country but unfortunately he looks destined to play the same role as French Holly did behind Istabraq at Cheltenham last year, that would appear to be the case at the moment anyway.
"Dato Star is just unfortunate to be in the same era as Istabraq who is one of the best hurdlers we have ever seen, if not the best.
"In most years a rating of 172 would be good enough to win an average Champion Hurdle."
