I CAN’T quite believe we’re entering our third season analysing National Hunt racing with our RaceiQ metrics, writes Page Fuller. With more than two years’ worth of data now to play with, we can’t wait to bring you all of the insights you need throughout the season. The first of which belongs to a horse that went down on his shield on hurdling debut in the Grade 2 Novices Hurdle at Cheltenham last Friday.

Doctor Blue is a lightly raced five-year-old who failed by a short-head to Fortune De Mer. It was not a straightforward task, as they went a good gallop through the race. Fortune De Mer had the quickest joint-average entry speed of the meeting at 32.5 mph. This means that on average, Fortune De Mer was going at 32.5 mph 30 metres before each hurdle.