IT took Alpha Delphini 57.18secs to get from the starting stalls to the winning post in the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes at York on Friday, and he didn’t have to jump any fences.

It took Amberleigh House 9 mins 20.3secs, almost 10 times as long, to get from the starting line to the winning post in the 2004 Aintree Grand National, and he had to jump 30 of the fiercest fences known to horse or man en route.