AROUND twice as many races are truly-run at the minimum distance of the Nunthorpe as at a mile and a half plus, according to Timeform’s analysis of sectionals and overall times, and falsely-run affairs were much in evidence at the Yorkshire Ebor Festival otherwise.

If there was any doubt that the Yorkshire Oaks belonged in the latter category, that was settled by an overall time equivalent to a figure of just 87. We know that Pleascach can run fast – she did that in winning at Naas (timefigure of 113) and the Curragh (111) earlier this campaign – but she had to run fast only late on in this.

A similar remark applies to Max Dynamite, winner of the Lonsdale Cup. A timefigure of just 82 and a finishing speed of well over 100% tells you what you need to know about the relative test of stamina involved, but that’s not to say that the Willie Mullins-trained gelding is anything other than a smart stayer given the scalps he took in this.

By contrast, the wins of Ajaya (Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Gimcrack Stakes), Besharah (Lowther Stakes) and Mondialiste (Strensall Stakes) at shorter distances came accompanied by timefigures that were at least decent.

Ajaya’s 116 puts him second only to Acapulco (117) among two-year-olds in Britain and Ireland on the clock this season, while Besharah’s 111 has her in joint-seventh. The older horse Mondialiste’s 118 equalled the timefigure he recorded when runner-up in the Lincoln Handicap at Doncaster in March.