THE 2017 turf flat season in Ireland commenced at Naas the day after the Dubai World Cup card with the Lincolnshire fixture switched from the Curragh.

Time analysis was not the easiest on borderline heavy going, but one thing which stands out is that the fastest time of three races at a mile came not in the feature handicap, won by Brendan Brackan in a time of 1m 47.42s, nor in the Group 3 Lodge Park Stud EBF Park Express Stakes, won by Czabo in 1m 48.14s, but in the concluding maiden, won by Orderofthegarter in 1m 46.90s.

Timeform has taken a very low view of all three performances, but I think a more optimistic appraisal is justified and have gone for a 109 figure for Orderofthegarter, 98 for Brendan Brackan and 88 for Czabo.

Those last two are still well below what one would expect of winners of their respective races.

REMARKABLE

Orderofthegarter, a son of Galileo and trained by Aidan O’Brien, won by 11 lengths and eight and a half, which are remarkable margins even against unexceptional rivals and on ground as testing as this was. His sectionals compare well to Brendan Brackan’s and Czabo’s also.

While this was almost certainly a step up on Orderofthegarter’s two seconds in maidens at two years, it can also be seen as a big compliment to the stable-companion who beat him in an astonishingly quick time at Leopardstown in the second of those races, Cliffs Of Moher.

I have a timefigure of 112 on Cliffs Of Moher, who looks as good a prospect as any outside Churchill among the classic generation at Ballydoyle, and have risked a small bet on him for the Derby at Epsom at odds of 20/1. Whatever these two colts’ fates, this line of maiden form looks exceptionally strong.

The Naas meeting opened with a two-year-old maiden that produced the fastest relative time of the season for the age group at the time of writing. The Kevin Prendergast-trained Moonlight Bay touched 31/1 in running but got well on top late on in what was a strongly-run race. I have a timefigure of 88 on him, though it is likely to need a figure into the 100s to be a clear Royal Ascot contender, for instance.

Sectionals suggest the front-running second Royal Diplomat would run Moonlight Bay closer another day, while fourth-placed My Silver Nails is another who paid for racing close up and who should do better still next time.