MUCH of the attention at Leopardstown’s Sunday meeting was on what took place afterwards – the likes of Vautour and Don Cossack schooled over fences in advance of Cheltenham - rather than the racing itself. But there was at least one performance proper of note against the watch.

The Henry de Bromhead-trained Alisier D’Irlande won the 17-furlong novice chase in style and stopped the clock at 4m 13.7s, which is by some way the fastest time for the course and distance of late. That is in no small part down to ground that seemed quicker than the official “soft, yielding in places”, but Alisier D’Irlande’s time looks good compared to the other races run over fences on the card and prompts a timefigure of 146.