IT was quite an eventful weekend as the jumps season came to life last weekend.

Using the “too good, too bad” synopsis as they do to wrap on Match of the Day, Footpad was the last horse expected to be in a ‘too bad’ category.

It was a too bad to be true reappearance from last year’s top novice for whom Champion Chase and Gold Cup aspirations had been held.

He finished very ‘sore’ as did the same owners’ other top novice from last year Terrefort, at Sandown last Sunday. Their Champion Hurdle contender We Have A Dream was also beaten at Wincanton and doesn’t look a likely Champion winner on that performance.

Saldier also crashed out at Naas with a bash in the face and sadly Grade 1 winner Identity Thief meet his end at Navan. The first thought after taking stock on all of the weekend’s racing and these high profile defeats was, who would really want to spend €300,000 on a jumping horse. It could all be gone in one careless jump.

Hopefully all Footpad’s problems came from that miscalculation at the third fence. It definitely looked like something was hurting him at a few fences afterwards.

It’s not as if some brilliant chasers didn’t have a lapse in concentration in their time. Desert Orchid did, Kauto Star did, Arkle galloped through a fence in his third Gold Cup. But after the loss of Vautour, and injuries to Douvan, probably two of his best horses trained, even a stable as successful as Willie Mullins’ is susceptible same disappointments as the rest.