IT has been a slow burner of a season for novice hurdlers but the signs are good that some of the better ones are now coming to the fore. It all ties in with the opportunities available, of course, and the only graded races since New Year’s Day were Grade 1 novice hurdles as it happens.

A fairly bunched finish to the Lawlor’s of Naas Novice Hurdle last Sunday might encourage the onlooker to think that none of the principals was out of the ordinary, but there are reasons to be more upbeat than that, notably the time recorded by the winner Battleoverdoyen.

In fact, it was a remarkable time – the only race run at farther than two miles on the card but easily the fastest in terms of average speed – so much so that I re-checked it and checked the distance from Google Earth. They seem to be valid, and Battleoverdoyen’s timefigure of 144 can be viewed as conservative.

That still makes him the second fastest Irish-trained novice hurdler behind 149-rated Aramon, and it results in timefigures of 138 for Sams Profile, 139 for Getareason and 138 for Magnium.

The last two named separately paid compliments to the Mullins-trained Easy Game, who beat them at Navan late last year and is now rated 141.

WORKMANLINE

Battleoverdoyen was somewhat workmanlike to the eye, but it should be noted that this surface was “good” at the softest and that he is a big unit who may prove most at home on a more galloping track. He does not, however, stride like an out-and-out stayer at this stage, maxing at 2.17 strides/second and a quite impressive 24.5 feet stride length here.

Elsewhere on the Naas card, three chases at the minimum trip made for ready comparisons, with the handicapper Punches Cross (124 timefigure) and novice chaser Articulum (125) running similar times and the mare Merie Devie (82) was much slower than either of them.