WHILE the two-mile novice chasing division is notably hot on both sides of the Irish Sea, the novice hurdling division in Britain has been a relative non-event. But things may just have changed.

Kalashnikov’s win in an ultra-competitive Betfair Hurdle was a smart performance and the clock backs that up with a 151 timefigure. But Vinndication’s defeat of Western Ryder in the Sidney Banks Memorial Novices’ Hurdle at Huntingdon was worth just one less and may be more easily overlooked.