THE sport at Cheltenham’s Open Meeting was splendid in many respects, but this time analyst’s glass ended up half empty rather than half full.

In addition to a time from Fox Norton that was respectable, but no better, some of the other big winners did not really measure up on the clock.

How about the fact that Defi Du Seuil, winner of the Grade 2 juvenile on the Saturday, ran his race 6.2s slower (and 4.0s slower in the last half-mile) than the dead-heating winners of a listed bumper over the same course and distance later on the card?

That difference, which is slightly more than could usually be accounted for by the absence of hurdles in the latter race, means that Defi Du Seuil gets a measly 99 timefigure. It is difficult to say why his time was so poor.

THISTLECRACK

It is easier to explain why Thistlecrack posted a mere 122 timefigure in his win on the same card, for his was a virtual solo effort from a long way out.

Moon Racer’s even more underwhelming 89 timefigure for winning a Grade 2 novice hurdle on Sunday was down to a slowly-run race and sprint finish, in which he completed the run-in several lengths quicker than other hurdle and bumper winners on the card.

By contrast, the runners in O O Seven’s novice chase on Friday did too much in the middle of the race, as sectionals show, resulting in a slow finish and an unexceptional 136 timefigure by the winner. Fifth-placed Its’afreebee paid most and could be an interesting sort for handicaps before long.

Against that, the big handicap chase on Saturday, sponsored this year by BetVictor, was a well-run affair in which Taquin Du Seuil posted a 160 timefigure in victory, while the Peter Fahey-trained Peregrine Run ran a respectable 136 figure in landing a somewhat substandard Grade 2 novice hurdle on Friday.

The most impressive winning times, relative to what might be expected of horses of that ability, were recorded in handicap hurdles by Clondaw Cian (137 timefigure) and North Hill Harvey (155 timefigure in the Greatwood Hurdle).

The latter was not only more than 10.0s quicker than the aforementioned Moon Racer but also quicker than the 107-rated bumper winner on the card, Poetic Rhythm.