THERE were so many different facets of Our Duke’s win on Monday. There were different aspects of the performance that Jessica Harrington’s horse put up in winning the Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse that make it unusually good.

For starters, there was the weight that he carried, 11st 4lb. No horse in the previous 10 years had carried more than 10st 13lb, and only one had carried more than 10st 6lb.

Indeed, the last horse before Our Duke who carried more than 10st 13lb to victory in the Irish National was Commanche Court, a Triumph Hurdle winner, who won the Irish National in 2000. Ted Walsh’s horse went on to land the Grade 1 Punchestown Gold Cup nine days later, and he was good enough to finish second to Best Mate in the Cheltenham Gold Cup two years later.

Before Commanche Court, it was Bobbyjo, who went on to win the Aintree Grand National. Before Bobbyjo, it was Flashing Steel. Before Flashing Steel, it was Desert Orchid. That’s the ballpark in which Our Duke is playing.

AGRESSIVE FROM THE START

There was also the manner in which he did it: up front and aggressive from the start. As we saw in the Aintree National, it is difficult to win these fast-run Nationals on goodish ground with aggressive tactics.

Four horses broke clear of the main pack, Rogue Angel, Stellar Notion, Fletchers Flyer and Our Duke. It was all too much for three of them. Rogue Angel was pulled-up before the fifth last fence, while Stellar Notion and Fletchers Flyer were both pulled-up before the second last. The early pace took its toll on the three of them.

Our Duke just got stronger. When Bless The Wings and Abolitionist loomed up in Robbie Power’s wing-mirrors at the second last, Power just changed gear and Our Duke picked up again. It was an astonishing display.

There was also his jumping, accurate and efficient throughout, there was his pace, his ability to lie up with the front-runners easily, there was his attitude over the last two fences, willing and going forward, and there was the time, 0.11secs/furlong faster than Racing Post par.

Add that to his age, just seven, and his relative inexperience, just four runs over fences, and the fact that he is trained by the genius who is Jessica Harrington, and you can understand why the hushed talk is of next year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup.