GOWRAN Park staged its opening jump fixtures of the season on Friday and Saturday with the feature race providing Easy Game (147) with another PWC Champion Chase, as he again beat stable companion Kemboy.

The time-figure was superior to that at Listowel as the early pace was stronger, playing more to the strengths of Kemboy (145) who was much closer to the winner on this occasion and now looks primed for a return to three miles.

A comparison with chase debutant winner Banbridge (139+) shows Joseph O’Brien’s gelding to have covered the same distance just 2.1secs slower than the established Grade 2-winning chaser.

However, the overall time difference only hints at the potential of the Cheltenham festival winner over the larger obstacles.

The final circuit times confirm the gap between the two winners, although the closing sectionals from the fifth last fence show Banbridge to have finished quicker, covering the ground with ease in 89.0secs. Easy Game was all out at the finish, in my opinion, to stop the clock at 90.9secs.

The opening race on the card is also worth a second glance as Cougar (120) clocked an above average time for a juvenile hurdler at this time of the season.

A recent maiden winner for Aidan O’Brien at the Curragh, he turned his attention to the jumping game by collaring the more experienced Charlie Luciano in the final strides.

Any hint of there being a pace collapse is dispelled by the closing sectionals as the son of Deep Impact closed off in a similar time to the other three hurdle races on the card.

Tipperary

Tipperary staged a mixed card on Sunday with the two Grade 3 hurdles taking centre stage on the clock and Champ Kiely (149) confirming himself as an above average novice hurdler courtesy of the fastest time of the day.

The time figure achieved by the winner cascades nicely through the placed horses as Brazil (145) ran to a similar level when third in the Grade 1 Juvenile hurdle at Aintree and Hubrisko (141) improved on his performance at Galway.

The performance also stands up to inspection when viewing the final circuit against Jessie Evans (132+), who won the Grade 3 for older horses. Noel Meade’s six-year-old was only marginally quicker with the finishing splits from the fourth last with a finishing split of 69.1secs and 70.1secs a representation of the difference.

To complete the analysis over hurdlers John Cannon (124) stopped the clock for his finishing effort at 71.0secs.

FONTEYN (115) made best use of the favoured stands’ side draw at Newmarket on Saturday to deliver a Group 1 success for Neil Callan and Kevin Ryan in the Sun Chariot Stakes.

The daughter of Farhh has been noticeably free in her last two races and threatened to be so again here after breaking smartly. However, on this occasion Callan thought differently, taking her back after a couple of furlongs. The move proved crucial as she required reserves of stamina to edge out Laurel (115) in a tight finish.

Little

There was little to choose between the duo through the closing stages with Laurel posting the marginally quicker closing effort, stopping the clock at 35.86secs compared to the winners 35.93secs. The inexperienced daughter of Kingman will no doubt have her day in the sun in a Group 1.

The other time of note on the Newmarket card was recorded by Al Husn (106+) in the opening mile-and-a-quarter 0-105 handicap.

David Egan rode Roger Varian’s filly with supreme confidence, allowing her to drift back through the field before launching his challenge. The daughter of Dubawi wandered around slightly when first coming under pressure although still delivered a closing three-furlong sectional of 35.37secs, which was 0.56secs quicker than Fonteyn.

Kings Joy (103) shaped better than her finishing position having been taken back to seek cover by rider Rob Havlin. A closing sectional of 36.05secs was respectable in the circumstances and I would expect the John & Thady Gosden-trained filly to step forward for the run after 56 days away from the track, especially if returning to an artificial surface.

Imperial Emperor (98+), Newmarket, Saturday 1st October – looked better the further he went when winning on his debut, his final furlong was rapid.

Method (105), Ascot, Saturday 1st October – more effective over five furlongs and enjoyed the soft ground. Appears capable of ending his losing run when the conditions combine.