THE majority of bumpers are steadily run but we are getting some notable exceptions at quite a high level this season.

Minella Encore ran the two miles at Leopardstown on December 29th 3.3s quicker than Mick Jazz had (admittedly while jumping eight hurdles) in the Ryanair December Hurdle earlier on the card.

The difference was pretty evenly distributed throughout the race and the respective overall times look reasonable reflections of the two horses’ abilities.

That earns Minella Encore a 124 timefigure which is up to scratch for the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham, though the ground there is unlikely to be so testing.

Nonetheless, and while acknowledging that trainer Willie Mullins may have a different idea of the pecking order in his stable, Minella Encore looks worth a bet at 25/1 for that contest.

Mullins’ Carefully Selected ran nearly as fast in relative terms on the same course on December 27th, but that was at 20 furlongs and there must be doubts about his raw speed if dropped to two miles.

Yet another Mullins-trained gelding, Hollowgraphic, comes in third on account of his impressive success at Punchestown earlier in December.

The leading British bumper horse on time is the Fergal O’Brien-trained Time To Move On, a clear-cut winner at Exeter early in December.

Other notable bumper performances of late have included Blackbow (106 timefigure) at Leopardstown on December 26th, Alighted (slowly run race and timefigure of just 38) at the same track on December 28th and Dunvegan (100) at Fairyhouse on New Year’s Day.

In Britain, Acey Milan put in a solid 106 timefigure when landing a short distance bumper at Cheltenham on the first of the month.