RAILS were moved, hurdles were moved, and official going descriptions varied, at Leopardstown’s Christmas Meeting, but the distance from the final fence to the line necessarily remained the same.

So it is that we know the time taken up the run-in for Saturday’s Savills Chase (20.4s) was the slowest of all chases across the four days, and so was the time of 52.7s from two out.

In contrast, the mid-race time from the first after the winning post to three out was faster in absolute terms than any other chase besides A Plus Tard’s race (which was run at nearly a mile shorter, of course).

The Savills Chase might have started steadily, but it turned into a test thereafter, with the front-running Monalee seeming to be going up and down in the same spot before rallying when headed near the line.

The runners finished in something of a heap – less than four lengths between the first five – and cannot all be top-notchers – but Delta Work is still worth a 164 figure for this, and, as the youngest in the race, may still have improvement in him.

Monalee and Road To Respect, also second and third in this in 2018, earned time ratings of 163 and 162, while Kemboy, the winner 12 months earlier, returned 160 but remains on 170 having gone as if needing this. Presenting Percy (161) also offered a fair amount of encouragement in fifth. The Cheltenham Gold Cup looks very open at the time of writing.

There seem to be two versions of Apple’s Jade: the one who is about as good as any hurdler in training when in receipt of her sex allowance, and the one who has come up short in some of her biggest tests.

It was the former who showed up in the three-mile Frank Ward Memorial Hurdle at Leopardstown on Saturday, setting a strong pace and forging clear to beat Unowhatimeanharry by 17 lengths.

A one-on-one comparison with the Pertemps Qualifier at the same distance earlier on the card has Apple’s Jade running 1.6s (about eight lengths) slower than the winner of that race, Treacysenniscorthy (carried 19lbs less), though Apple’s Jade was around 30 lengths ahead of the leader of the handicap as early as the fifth flight.

It all results in an unremarkable 136 figure on overall time for Apple’s Jade in this, but that gets boosted to 151 in view of the fast early/slow late profile. The runner-up remains on 150, while Penhill in third showed a glimmer of his old form on 148 (including sectional adjustment).

The beginners chase on the same card fell to the useful and consistent Easy Game with a 140 rating, runner-up Allaho (139) looking a certain winner in the near future.

In a rather sparse period for good bumper performances on the clock, Forged In Fire ran the best time in the finale at Leopardstown, on 116 still nine behind the divisional leader Israel Champ.

The highlight at Limerick on the same day was the win of Sumos Novios in the well-run Grade B Tim Duggan Memorial Handicap Chase, an effort worth a smart 151 figure.