THERE were a couple of interesting performances that may have gone under the radar last week, which indeed have been dismissed, and they are the focus of my attention this week. They are all about speed which, after all, is the key ingredient to success at the highest level, and that may well come the way of one if not all of those horses assessed this week.

Last June Sober easily landed the Queen Alexandra Stakes at Royal Ascot, where he quickened smartly to record a finishing speed percentage of 108.81% and once again it was his speed that brought him success at Punchestown on Sunday.

After losing 9.33mph jumping the first hurdle in the Grade 2 Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle at Punchestown, he woke up and jumped a lot better for the rest of the race, with his best jumps coming at the fifth (jump index 8.3) and sixth (jump index 8.7) hurdles, showing that he can be quick and efficient at speed over his obstacles. It was his flat speed that shone through here, enabling him to beat two rivals who overall jumped better than him.

Race IQ Jump Index Race Values:

1st Sober: 6.3

2nd Road Exile: 8.4

3rd Free Spirit: 8.3

The race turned into a four-furlong sprint, with all three runners recording relatively fast finishes as below.

1st Sober: FSP 111.26%

2nd Road Exile: FSP 108.83%

3rd Free Spirit: 109.43%

Sober was far too quick for his rivals, faster than them through each of the final three furlongs and his penultimate split of 13.04secs was easily the fastest of the meeting. He was 1.32secs quicker than the runner-up through the final two furlongs, which is the equivalent of 5.28 lengths. This was not a performance that screamed Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, but it was one that suggested there is a lot more to come from Sober, who will have too much speed for many hurdlers - particularly when he encounters faster ground as he did at Royal Ascot.

There is room for improvement in his jumping, but there was enough of an indication here that, bar his first hurdle antics, there is nothing to worry about in the jumping department and, whilst a quote of 16/1 for the Supreme will not tempt many, this was a performance that promises there is plenty more to come from Sober. After all, this was only his second start over hurdles and his first since June of last year.

FUTURE Prospect has been ideally named if her hurdling debut at Naas last Friday is an accurate indicator of what is to come. As far as data analysis is concerned, she put up a performance that suggests she could win in graded company next time we see her, and she was the data highlight of last week.

Future Prospect was an impressive nine-length winner of her bumper at Fairyhouse on debut in December 2024 but, faced with graded stakes bumper company in three subsequent runs, she failed to progress as might have been expected. After an eight-month break, she made her hurdling debut at Naas, winning easily by nine and a half lengths. She may not have beaten much, but the manner of her success as contained in the data must be respected.

The tempo of the race can be described as fast, slow, fast with the impressive part of this performance being just how strongly Future Prospect was able to finish her race, given the strong early pace and the fact that she was keen through those furlongs.

She raced keenly in second place, attending a pace that was strong, as evidenced by the fact that her fastest furlong in the race was her second furlong where she recorded a split of 13.16secs (34.44mph), which was the fastest in the field.

The pace steadied after five furlongs and then picked up again five furlongs later, with Future Prospect able to record a finishing speed percentage of 106.76% which saw her complete the final four furlongs 2.46secs faster than the runner-up, which is the equivalent of 10 lengths, given the going, which was officially described as yielding (yielding to soft in places).

This was a remarkable finishing effort from Future Prospect given how keen she had been and how fast she ran through those first five furlongs. Her final furlong of 15secs was only bettered at the meeting by the impressive Quiryn in the bumper, who did not have to deal with as strong an early gallop as Future Prospect did.

Omitted hurdles

Future Prospect impressed with her hurdling, albeit they only jumped six hurdles courtesy of the dreaded low sun. She recorded a jump index of 8 out of 10, which is an impressive number for a horse on debut over hurdles and, in recording that number, she gained ground on all of her rivals at all bar the third hurdle where she made her only mistake of the race.

Make no mistake, this is an exciting set of data from Future Prospect, and she may be capable of causing an upset when upped in grade.

Traditional thinking may suggest that winning a graded stakes after a maiden hurdle success is a tough ask, but I would suggest that a deep dive into what she did at Naas gives her every chance of upsetting higher-rated rivals with the caveat that, although she is bred to stay two and a half miles, her free-going nature and natural speed will be best employed over two miles.

I HAVE touched on the performance of Quiryn in the bumper, and such was the impression he created he deserves further analysis. Quiryn stormed clear of his rivals in the Fifty Stars At Sunnyhill Stud (Pro/Am) Flat Race at Naas to win by nine lengths in a race that was steadily run.

He had far too much speed for his rivals in a steadily-run contest, recording the fastest finish at the meeting with an FSP of 114.80%. It is not unusual for bumpers to produce fast finishes off steady gallops, but for Quiryn to be able to pull so far clear of a rival who was also finishing quickly (FSP: 111.34%) was impressive.

It was his final two furlongs that set him apart. Entering the penultimate furlong, Quiryn was 0.21s ahead of Apache Peak in second, entering the final furlong he was 0.57s ahead and, at the line, he had increased the margin of victory to 1.70s. That final two-furlong surge equates to him putting eight and a quarter lengths between himself and the runner-up, which given how strongly that horse was finishing, is very impressive.

This was a display of pure speed from a horse on debut from the Willie Mullins yard whose horses have generally needed a run this season and it resulted in Quiryn being installed as the 12/1 joint favourite for the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham and it’s hard to argue that he shouldn’t be favourite.