WE have a problem when analytics clash with visual impressions and that was the case at Cork on Sunday when Majborough made his seasonal return. We have been here before, of course, most notably with Ballyburn last season. He looked like he could jump a fence and was just lacking in experience, but the data told us he was inefficient at his fences, jumping accurately at times but slowly. His lifetime Race IQ jump index over fences of 6.3 is not good enough to become one of the top novices and he has duly returned to hurdling where he finds jumping easier.

Majborough presents us with a different case because he has consistently produced good data, even when he appears to have jumped poorly and this was the case again last weekend. This may be best explained by saying that he does things wrong in a very efficient way.