When the front running Si C’Etait Vrait accelerated from three out in an attempt to hold off his challenge he got stretched into a bad blunder at the very next fence. He’d jumped rather well when Si C’Etait Vrai was coasting along at a comfortable gallop earlier, apart from being slightly hesitant at three fences. It seems to me he simply needs longer than the two and a half miles he’s been tackling. At the slower pace of longer races he won’t be stretched into jumping errors.

This race nearly ended at the second fence for Mullaganhoe River as he had to swerve sharply to avoid a faller on landing, losing four lengths and momentum. Add in the effect of his blunder at the same fence a circuit later when it was the second last and the fact he clearly idled on the run-in and it seems highly likely he’s capable of bettering this already smart performance.