AS one door begins to close, on the Irish and British turf flat season, another is opening on what promises to be an enthralling jumps campaign.

There are the small matters of Champions Day at Ascot and the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar to get out of the way, of course. But I suspect that the reader’s attention, like mine, is increasingly switching to the winter scene and the long road to Cheltenham in March.

This seems like a good opportunity for a quick refresher of what happened in 2016/2017 from a timing point of view.

Douvan’s easy defeat of Sizing John at Leopardstown over Christmas was the best time effort of last season, though the latter did subsequently raise his game at longer distances, notably in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Douvan himself was injured at the Festival.

A major rival to Douvan emerged in Altior, the best of a vintage crop of novice chasers but still not quite as accomplished as Douvan at that one’s best.

Thistlecrack was the best of the staying novice chasers if not quite as good as some puffed him up to be at one stage.

The novice hurdlers were slightly substandard on the clock, but Buveur d’Air switched back from novice chasing to devastating effect to be the top hurdler of the campaign of any description by that measure.

Defi Du Seuil was a good, but not quite outstanding, champion juvenile hurdler, with his best time coming in an authoritative win in the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham.

The bumper crop was an average one, taken overall, but there are almost certainly some stars of the future among them, and the division leader Fayonagh took her first steps over hurdles at Fairyhouse last Saturday.

A defeat of the modest Rock Road is a very long way from championship-calibre form, and comes out at just 107 on the clock. But Fayonagh “looked a natural” in terms of jumping technique and had plenty in the locker. It will be fascinating to see how far she can go in this discipline.