THE heavy ground which prevailed at Punchestown has been a feature in Britain as well as Ireland for some time now. Saturday’s meeting at Chepstow – postponed from over Christmas – managed to go ahead, but only just.

It produced three notable winning performances, from Mountainous in the Welsh Grand National (139 timefigure), from Adrien Du Pont in the Grade 1 Finale Juvenile Hurdle (137 timefigure) and from Otago Trail in a useful handicap chase (142 timefigure). It should be noted, by the way, that the historically slow time for the Welsh Grand National was in part down to the start being moved back by 132 yards after British racing’s comprehensive re-measurement exercise last summer so that it was run over its `traditional’ distance at last.