MUCH of the attention at Leopardstown’s Sunday meeting was on what took place afterwards – the likes of Vautour and Don Cossack schooled over fences in advance of Cheltenham - rather than the racing itself. But there was at least one performance proper of note against the watch.

The Henry de Bromhead-trained Alisier D’Irlande won the 17-furlong novice chase in style and stopped the clock at 4m 13.7s, which is by some way the fastest time for the course and distance of late. That is in no small part down to ground that seemed quicker than the official “soft, yielding in places”, but Alisier D’Irlande’s time looks good compared to the other races run over fences on the card and prompts a timefigure of 146.

Given how easily the six-year-old triumphed, talk of taking on the big guns - at Aintree rather than Cheltenham - seems realistic; he can go a good clip and maintain it.

The next chapter in Aspen Colorado’s career came in the concluding bumper, and the jury - or at least any jury with stopwatches - remains out regarding his chance for the Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival.

The overall time of this race does not compare well with that of the handicap hurdle earlier on the card (after an adjustment for the absence of hurdles, obviously) and a timefigure of 87 shows, if nothing else, that Aspen Colorado will have to run a lot quicker to get involved against the likes of Ballyandy and co.