IT proved difficult to tally chase times at Leopardstown with hurdle ones over the four days. On the whole, the average speeds of the former were considerably faster than the latter, which is the opposite of what would usually occur.

Whether that was down to differences in the going on the two courses (i.e. that it was much quicker on the chase than the hurdle track) or issues with race distances, or a bit of both, is unclear, but obstacle-to-obstacle sectionals again help to shed a lot of light on how times were arrived at.

For instance, those sectionals show that the Lexus Chase – run at three miles, or possibly a bit further – was not “slowly-run” as some have maintained but a solid test of stamina in which the runners completed from the second-last joint-slowest of the eight chases across the meeting.

The leader in the Lexus was ahead of the leader in the Grade 1 Neville Hotels Novice Chase – run at the same distance the following day – from start to finish, and by nearly 20 lengths mid-race.

This probably helped Don Poli in going closer than he had done since winning this in the mud 12 months earlier. It may also have helped to bring about the demise of the Ryanair Chase runner-up Valseur Lido, who looked a likely winner (traded at even money in running), only to find little when it mattered.

The return to a longer trip in a well-run race showed Outlander in a good light, and he stayed on stoutly to land the big prize with a 165 time performance that puts him in third place among British and Irish jumpers this season.

Don Poli and third-placed Djakadam ran to 163, and connections of the latter – who had beaten Outlander at Punchestown the time before – are entitled to think things might have been closer had their horse not lost its place at a crucial stage between the last two.

Valseur Lido was not the only one to fail to get home, as Zabana (previously rated 161) disputed the lead approaching the last but dropped away to seventh. Ante-post odds of 25/1 the latter for the Ryanair Chase at the time of writing look too big.

The aforementioned Neville Hotels Novice Chase went to Our Duke in a close finish from Coney Island and Disko, resulting in timefigures of 148, 148 and 147 respectively. That suggests the trio still have a short way to go to be considered major RSA Chase contenders, especially with a horse like Might Bite on the scene.