STANDING with Rajsaman at Longford House Stud in Co Tipperary this spring is Monitor Closely. Like Rajsaman he was at stud in France before moving to Ireland, and he is already sire of several winners over jumps, notably Eclair De Beaufeu, whose six wins include the €50,000 Matheson Handicap Chase at Leopardstown in February, and he was also second in the Grand Annual Chase at Cheltenham this month.

A half-brother by Oasis Dream to the very successful stallion Mount Nelson, Monitor Closely was sold for 140,000gns as a yearling and was trained by Peter Chapple-Hyam. He won over a mile at Newbury in his third and final outing as a two-year-old, after being third to subsequent group winner Kite Wood at Doncaster on his debut and sixth of 24 in a valuable sales race at Newmarket.