IF they ran a competition for the most testing ground of the jumps season, it would be particularly well-contested this time round. My vote would marginally go for that Cork meeting in December at which Un De Sceaux won, but another contender emerged on Sunday when Thurles managed to complete its card despite standing water in places and some painfully slow overall times.

It is all relative, however, and the two chases at two and a half miles still make for an interesting comparison. According to my clockings, Dinaria Des Obeaux was 2.7s (over 10 lengths) quicker in winning the Coolmore-sponsored mares’ novice chase than A Toi Phil had been in winning the Kinloch Brae Chase half an hour earlier, when almost exactly the opposite might have been expected.