THE second day of the Winter Festival at Fairyhouse belonged to Gordon Elliott and Jack Kennedy with four winners which included the two Grade 1 races on the card.

The two horses who hit the fastest speeds and ran the fastest furlongs on Sunday at Fairyhouse were Mange Tout and Narcisco Has in the same race, the Grade 3 juvenile hurdle. They both ran a penultimate furlong of 12.91s with Mange Tout hitting a top speed of 35.27mph with Narcisco Has clocking 35.40mph, both are prominent in the Triumph Hurdle betting.

Mange Tout is a fast, free-going filly who benefited from the refitting of a hood that she wore when winning on her debut at Compiegne. She was able to conserve a lot more energy than she had been able to do when winning at Down Royal on her debut for the yard and consequently finished the race very strongly recording an FSP of 109.31%, compared to a rather tired 94.53% at Down Royal. These numbers neatly show the effect of the hood.

Mange Tout quickened smartly through the final four furlongs demonstrating that speed is her major asset. She got progressively quicker through the final four furlongs before tiring in the final furlong.

Mange Tout closing sectionals:

F12: 15.14s

F13: 14.59s

F14: 13.62s

F15: 12.91s

F16: 14.34s

Mange Tout jumped adequately, recording a Race IQ jump index of 7.7, but we know that she can be more efficient than that, given that she has a figure of 8.2 at Down Royal. Narcisco Has also jumped competently (7.3) and looks to be a smart prospect, particularly as this was his first run for Willie Mullins. Both are of interest for the Triumph Hurdle although the speed that Mange Tout has may be best employed on speedier tracks than Cheltenham.

Bar One Betting Drinmore Novice Chase (Grade 1)

Romeo Coolio and Final Demand have put up the best novice chasing performances this season and last Sunday's Drinmore Chase was a much stronger race than the one Final Demand took on his debut over fences.

This race was evenly run with Romeo Coolio recording a relatively fast final four furlongs with a finishing speed percentage (FSP) of 105.82%. This strong finish saw him pull eight lengths clear of the useful Gold Dancer. He jumped very well recording a Race IQ jump index of 8.2. His lifetime index over hurdles was 7.2 and it is already apparent that he is a better jumper of a fence. For context Final Demand, on his debut over fences at Navan, garnered a bigger index value of 9.2. The difference in their scores is based in their speed loss over the fences. Final Demand jumped 14 fences with an average speed loss of 2.82 lengths, Romeo Coolio was slower over his fences with his average speed loss being 3.91mph over 15 fences. Another factor in this impressive victory was the trip. As a hurdler he did not have enough speed to cope with Kopek Des Bordes at Cheltenham or Salvatore Mundi at Aintree but he has looked a different proposition over two and half miles this season and could step up further in trip if required. Connections may want to have another crack at Kopek Des Bordes in the Arkle, but the drop back in trip to two miles is an obvious worry.

Bar 1 Betting Hatton’s Grace Hurdle (Grade 1)

TEAHUPOO and Ballyburn served up a battle royale in the Hatton’s Grace and there was little to separate them in terms of data. What we can decipher is just how much faster Ballyburn was in the final stages.

Teahupoo, who has always been at his best when fresh, returned to action to win this race for the third time. He just held on from the fast-finishing Ballyburn who was 0.41s faster than the winner through the final half-mile. Ballyburn had to get out of a pocket on the home bend just as Teahupoo was gaining momentum and then took a few strides to pick up, but he finished much faster than the winner with a final furlong of 15.12s with Teahupoo clocking 15.49s.

Teahupoo has never been a very slick jumper of hurdles. His lifetime Race IQ jump index is 7.2 and he recorded 6.9 here. Ballyburn, who did not take to chasing (6.3), has a lifetime hurdling Index of 7.1 and could only muster 6.6 on this occasion. Whilst we know that Teahupoo is a strong stayer who stays three miles, we cannot be as confident about Ballyburn who can be keen in his races, but if he does stay he will be the one to beat in the Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham, given his strong finish here and a round of jumping that was not his best.

Bet MGM Fighting Fifth Hurdle (Grade 1)

A DRAMATIC Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle last Saturday has prompted plenty of debate about what is next for Constitution Hill and there is little to add to the debate other than to acknowledge that, amidst the chaos at Newcastle and in the Champion Hurdle last season, Golden Ace has gone about her business in unheralded fashion.

Whilst others have created the headlines, she has been the beneficiary of circumstance and on this occasion ended a losing run for her trainer Jeremy Scott that goes back to April. It may be time to give up on Constitution Hill and, even though Anzadam failed to take advantage of the situation presented to him, there are reasons to believe that he should be given another chance to build upon the enormous promise of his two wins last season.

A minor adjustment to the course meant that this year’s renewal was run over 144 yards further than the six previous editions. This extra distance had no bearing on a result which was some way short of Champion Hurdle class due to the proximity of Nemean Lion in third place. Anzadam raced keenly under restraint in rear in a race that was run at an even tempo with all the finishers recording relatively fast finishes as evidenced by their finishing speed percentages.

1st Golden Ace 104.79%

2nd Anzadam 104.99%

3rd Nemean Lion 104.64%

Anzadam recorded the top speed in the race of 36.31mph (Golden Ace 35.89mph) and the visual impression that he may have needed the run is backed up by the data. He made a move whilst travelling strongly recording the fastest splits in the race through furlongs 13, 14 and 15 but then it looked as if he got tired with his final two furlongs being the slowest of the three finishers.

Sectional timing comparison:

F13:

Golden Ace 13.05s

Anzadam 13.01s

F14:

Golden Ace 13.09s

Anzadam 12.83s

F15:

Golden Ace 12.93s

Anzadam 12.89s

F16:

Golden Ace 13.84s

Anzadam 13.95s

F17:

Golden Ace 14.80s

Anzadam 14.95s

The fact that Golden Ace was faster than Anzadam through the final two furlongs adds further ballast to the notion that Anzadam blew up. The first three home all jumped well, recording exceptional jump index scores with Nemean Lion being the fastest and most efficient at his hurdles.

Race IQ jump index values:

Nemean Lion: 9.3

Anzadam: 9.1

Golden Ace: 8.9

Golden Ace will try and regain her Champion Hurdle crown but may need a few to fluff their lines again for her to succeed. As far as Anzadam is concerned he will need to improve significantly to be competitive at the top level, but there is comfort for his supporters in that he showed plenty of speed, albeit prematurely and jumped very efficiently. We are likely to see a much-improved performance from him wherever he goes next, particularly as some of the Willie Mullins team have needed a run this season.