You can see what I mean about Sire De Grugy running slow if you clock the time from the third fence to the finish. They ran this in 3min 27.87secs which compares with the 3mins 27.53 secs they took over the same distance in the four and a half furlong longer unlisted Sodexo Handicap Chase on the same card.

I guess you could argue that Kauto Stone and runner-up Hidden Cyclone went off a little too fast and that this hurt the final time but Sire De Grugy keeps on running so slow so regularly that I’m convinced he’s simply been beating rivals that are either slow or running in unsuitable circumstances.