IT is early on in the jumps season but there are unlikely to be many better timefigures come the end of it than the 163 recorded by The New One in winning the Welsh Champion Hurdle at Ffos Las last Saturday.

The race was one of four on the card at a shortened two miles and was between 4.0s and 16.8s quicker than the others, with The New One carrying a big weight for good measure.