BAMBINO Fever was surprisingly beaten on her hurdling debut at Navan, but she must be given another chance to shine. This race was run at a crawl given the soft conditions allowing the first 11 horses home to finish relatively strongly with FSP’s above 100%. Bambino Fever was the fastest horse in the race hitting a speed of 34.66mph (winner 34.13mph) and she ran the fastest furlong in the race of 13.37s (F15).

Her historical data tells us that she can run faster than she did here. At Cheltenham in the Champion Bumper, she found a top speed of 37.21mph where she was racing on much better ground than she encountered here.

The same was true at Punchestown last April where she hit 37.10mph and the inference has to be that she is a fast horse whose speed was blunted by conditions on this occasion.

Bambino Fever jumped adequately with a jump index of 7.3, but that was only the eighth best in the race, most horses jumping efficiently given the steady gallop.

She clearly has room for improvement in this sphere which may well come on better ground off a stronger gallop. She is not one to give up on particularly given that a few Willie Mullins horses have needed their first runs this season

MINELLA Study is 20/1 for the JCB Triumph Hurdle after this six-and-a-half-length success. The race developed from four furlongs out with the data suggesting that Minella Study saw the trip out strongly which is in accordance with his stamina-laden pedigree and the fact that he stayed two miles on the flat.

His final four furlongs of 53.88% gave him an FSP of 107.00% as compared to Winston Junior in second who recorded 106.41%. His final two furlongs were impressive in that he was the only horse in the penultimate furlong to record a sub-14.00s furlong (13.34s) and his final furlong of 14.57s was easily the fastest.

He hit the line strongly and avoided any bad errors at his hurdles which had not been the case on his debut at Wetherby where he did well to recover and win after a shuddering error two out. His Jump Index values for his two starts over hurdles are 7.4 at Wetherby and 8.2 this time, where he gained ground on his rivals at every single hurdle.

He created a good impression here with a slick round of jumping and was very strong through the final quarter mile of the race. A stiffer test at two miles will suit him and he will go to the Triumph Hurdle with a chance if vulnerable to a horse with more speed.

IF you thought that Minella Study was impressive on Saturday at Cheltenham, it is worth bearing in mind that Old Park Star won on Friday in a time that was 3.82s faster than Minella Study, which in the conditions is equivalent to 23 lengths. This would have been a tough watch for Paul Nicholls who trained Old Park Star last season, but his loss is Nicky Henderson’s gain, and, on this evidence, he has inherited a very smart individual.

The data is clear that Old Park Star is a fast horse. When he won on his previous start at Kempton, the sharp nature of the track was no problem to him as he sprinted three lengths clear of his nearest rival recording a Finishing Speed Percentage (FSP) of 108.15% and was the only horse in the race to record a sub-14.00s final furlong (13.67s). He showed that he could deal with a stiffer track this time showing the same speed which is most encouraging given the stamina in his pedigree.

This was a stronger field than the one he had faced at Kempton with eight of the 10 runners having won last time out and they were destroyed by Old Park Star who won by 12 lengths having travelled strongly throughout. The pace was a steady one with Old Park Star racing handily. From six furlongs out he showed sustained speed with consecutive sectionals as displayed below. His final furlong split is deceptive as he was not asked to extend after the last flight of hurdles.

F10: 15.11s

F11: 13.99s

F12: 13.37s

F13: 13.00s

F14: 12.63s

F15: 12.64s

F16: 13.14s

F17: 14.38s

His final four furlongs of 52.80s was over two seconds faster than Glance At Midnight in second and afforded him an FSP of 107.48% which is representative of his fast finish and is even more impressive in the context of the second third fourth and fifth also recording Finishing Speed Percentages above 100% suggesting that they were also finishing the race relatively strongly.

He produced some impressive analytics when it came to his jumping. He produced a Jump Index value of 8.3 and gained 6.32 lengths on his rivals with his jumping. This was an improvement on his debut over hurdles at Kempton where he recorded an Index of 7.1 and lost ground on the field with his jumping to the tune of -014 lengths.

That experience had clearly done him good and the fluent visual impression he created is clearly backed up by the data.

It is particularly impressive that two of his best jumps were at the final two hurdles where his entry speed of 34.51mph and 34.39mph was his fastest entry speeds of the race suggesting that he was full of running over the last two hurdles and was able to jump efficiently at his top speed.

The Sky Bet Supreme Novices Hurdle will surely be the target for him now for which a generally available price of 16/1 looks generous.

JAGWAR finished third in the feature event at Cheltenham on Saturday, but he must be given a sectional upgrade for his performance which prefaces much more to come this season. Jagwar was held up in a slowly run race that was won by the front running Glengouly. Given the steady pace, he was poorly positioned in rear and could not get to the winner who got an easy lead, but the data is very positive about what he achieved, even if he can jump a bit better.

Jagwar completed the final four furlongs faster than any other horse in the race producing an FSP of 108.79% with the winner slower at 107.74%. He faced an impossible task trying to catch a horse who had enjoyed a positional advantage and was quickening in front of him. He was faster than Glengouly through five of the last six furlongs and reached the highest speed in the race (35.86 mph), but the advantage given to the talented winner was just too big a gap to bridge.

Jagwar jumped adequately indeed his Race IQ Jump Index of 7.9 was marginally better than Glengouly 7.7. Nonetheless, the data tells us that he can jump better than he did and had he done so, he may have been able to adopt a better position throughout the race. On his previous two winning starts at Cheltenham, he has jumped more slickly recording 8.7 and 8.3 and he may have been a bit rusty here off a lay-off.

Jagwar must be given a sectional update after this performance, and he remains a horse of tremendous potential whose mark of 148 markedly underestimates him.