CONDITIONS were testing at Fairyhouse on Sunday, but they did not spoil an excellent card, for all that some efforts were more meaningful on the clock than others.

It kicked off with a farcically slowly-run Bar One Juvenile Hurdle, in which the leaders were soon well over a furlong in arrears of the leaders in subsequent races at the same distance.

Espoir d’Allen emerged an authoritative winner, and looks a smart prospect, but without making up much of that time shortfall in the closing stages, and is credited with a timefigure of just 24.

Each of his three hurdling wins since coming from France has tested speed far more than stamina, and he will surely face a very different examination before long.

Mengli Khan impressed far more on the stopwatch half an hour later when winning the Bar One Racing Royal Bond Novice Hurdle in a time about 20.0s quicker.

STRONG FORM

This looks strong form, despite the under-performance of a few out the back, and I now have the Gordon Elliott-trained gelding top of the novice hurdling pile on 152. Runner-up Early Doors (144 timefigure) will not always meet one this good.

Sectionals show that the Bar One Hatton’s Grace Hurdle was not especially well-run, and the winner Apple’s Jade was over a dozen lengths quicker from three out than Mengli Khan despite running at half a mile further.

Apple’s Jade gets just a 142 timefigure for this effort but had a 154 at Navan the time before and a 155 at Punchestown in April.

This wouldn’t have played to the strengths of runner-up Nichols Canyon, who posted a 138 timefigure here but who has a 155 to his name as recently as when winning the Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham in March.

EVEN BETTER

The Bar One Racing Drinmore Novice Chase was similarly not run at an end-to-end gallop, though that arguably reflects even better on the winner Death Duty, who showed more pace than at times in the past. His 54.5s from the third-last represents a finishing speed of 113% of his average race speed.

Death Duty’s overall time was not bad, even so, and is worth a timefigure of 145. I have gone back and raised his Punchestown timefigure to 151, in line with the margin of his defeat of Rathvinden (141 here but 147 previously). That makes Death Duty well up to scratch for a usual winner of this Grade 1 if still a little short of Cheltenham Festival-winning calibre.

As it happens, Death Duty was not even the best novice chaser on show at Fairyhouse in time terms, for that accolade goes to Presenting Percy, who won the three-mile, five-furlong handicap chase under top-weight by fully 11 lengths.

That earns Presenting Percy a 153 timefigure, with the contrast in pace between this and the Drinmore underlined by the fact that Death Duty was at least 25 lengths quicker from the third-last (less than half a mile from the finish).

Incidentally, Benie Des Dieux, a rare Willie Mullins-trained raider at Carlisle, won a listed mares’ chase on the same afternoon with a 137 timefigure. This was a fine piece of placing in a race which was notably weak otherwise.

Real Steel will not feature in the list of top novice hurdlers on time so far, but his Irish debut win at Thurles last week was easily the fastest of three races at 2m over hurdles on the card and worth a timefigure of 127. He is certainly promising.