RUBY Walsh deservedly got plenty of praise for his ride on Un De Sceaux in winning the Tingle Creek Chase, coping with the early tearaway Ar Mad and rousing his mount despite slow jumps over the last two to edge out Sire De Grugy.

Back home on Sunday, some felt he might not have judged the Hatton’s Grace on Vroum Vroum Mag just so well.

The tactics were justified in some cases by the fact that she got to the front and Apple’s Jade fought her off. But during the course of a race, the guidance of a jockey and his judgement of pace and position contributes to what a horse has left in the latter stages.

Analysing the facts - Vroum Vroum Mag had won over further. She’d won over two miles, six furlongs on soft/heavy ground at Limerick and two miles, seven and a half at Ascot, so stamina was no problem, there was no reason why she should have been outstayed.

She also made all the running on faster ground over two miles in the Punchestown Champion Hurdle so she didn’t have to be ridden in behind. She’s adaptable and appeared to settle easily on Sunday.

It wasn’t a case of being wise after the event or using times to justify your opinion, even if they do on this occasion.

All through the race, you just felt the mare wasn’t in the ideal position and might need a bit of luck if the steady pace quickened.

Perhaps Walsh just thought she was good enough to beat her rivals no matter what happened but holding up too long of a steady pace is increasing the risks.

Things are going to get faster and you need to meet the final hurdles spot on or you run the risk of losing ground with a slow jump.

The 2014 Eclipse Stakes highlighted the basic principle of position relative to pace – give a horse an easy lead, and if you sit four lengths off him, when he accelerates, you are going to have run four lengths faster than him to get level, and that’s tough. [Simon Rowlands explains the theory behind it on page A8].

Mukhadram’s 14/1 win was gained by accelerating from the front.

The fact that it was her seasonal debut was given as a reason to accept the tactics.

But though we cannot be sure how fit Vroum Vroum Mag was on her reappearance, Nichols Canyon won on his seasonal debut and Un De Sceaux was pitched into a hot Tingle Creek on his and came out on top.

There’s also no evidence to show that a horse would have an easier race when asked to sprint of a steady pace for the final two furlongs compared to setting a steady pace itself and winding it up gradually from the front.

There’s no better judge of pace than Ruby and not often one gets away from him but this looked like it. It might have been one race he would like to ride again.