CHARLES Byrnes has made no secret of the regard in which he held Blazing Khal (150+) while he was side-lined with injury, and on Sunday the seven-year-old justified his trainer’s faith with a dominant display in the Grade 2 Boyne Hurdle at Navan.

Jockey Phillip Byrnes exercised similar patience to his father in the race as he gave his mount plenty of time to acclimatise following his 428-day absence from the track. However, once he asked his mount, the son of Kalanisi switched on immediately and closed on the leaders effortlessly, using a swift jump at the third last hurdle as a springboard to success.

A closing sectional of 42.4secs would also have helped blow the cobwebs away as only the progressive Hunters Yarn (137+), who completed his race in 41.3secs, covered the ground from the third last hurdle quicker.

The resultant time figure was also the quickest of the day when adjusted for distance, with the unbeaten hurdler looking open to further improvement when granted a stronger pace.

Bookmaker reaction saw the Byrnes-trained gelding surpass Teahupoo at the head of the market for the Stayers’ Hurdle, where his previous course experience will be a positive to his chances of bridging the gap with Gordon Elliott’s gelding, who still has the edge on my ratings courtesy of his Hatton’s Grace Hurdle victory.

Meet And Greet (148) looked much happier back up in distance, having been readily outpointed by Echoes In Rain over shorter at Naas. To add further context to the performance, Oliver McKiernan’s gelding was beaten a similar distance by Home By The Lee at Leopardstown over Christmas.

Hunters Yarn was a smooth winner of the listed contest to suggest he is a genuine candidate for squad Mullins at Cheltenham next month. There is room for improvement in the six-year-old’s hurdling as he displayed the tendency to bunny-hop his obstacles when not meeting them on a stride. However, in similar fashion to Naas, the Simon Munir and Isaac Souede-owned gelding demonstrated his finishing speed to draw six lengths clear of Imagine (134).

Finished strongly

Inothewayurthinkin (131+) finished strongly into third and would have confirmed Gowran Park form with Gordon Elliott’s gelding but for leaving his hind legs in the third last hurdle. Rider Luke Dempsey gave his mount time to recover from the error, so the five-year-old’s finishing effort of 41.9secs can be upgraded and he should be high on the shortlist for his chosen handicap engagement at Cheltenham.

Firm Footings (137) was another to complete the now prerequisite four runs to qualify for the big festival handicaps when making most, if not all, of the running in the opening maiden hurdle. A closing sectional of 44.0secs would suggest the gelding would be best suited by stepping back up in trip to two and a half miles.

To complete the hurdle data, Ho My Lord (127+) won as his prohibitive odds suggested would be the case, stopping the clock at 42.8secs for his sectional with Ring O Roses (120) catching the eye as she was the only runner to reach a challenging position from off the pace.

Wa Wa (112) took advantage of being able to run in a lower grade over hurdles, although his finishing effort of 42.7secs was achieved against the slowest time on the card.

Gordon Elliott suggested pre-race it would take a very good horse to beat Firefox (134+) in the closing bumper and so it proved.

Adjusting the race time for the 10 hurdles at Navan would still have seen the Bective Stud-gelding cover the two-miles quicker than all of the two-mile hurdle winners.

MAGIC Daze (151) stunned her rivals with a brilliant front running display in the Opera Hat Mares’ Chase at Naas on Saturday and is reportedly on course for the Mares’ Chase at Cheltenham and a mouth-watering clash with fellow trailblazer Allegorie De Vassy.

Henry De Bromhead’s mare jumped superbly throughout before finding plenty for pressure to fend off Dinoblue (148), who certainly did not go down without a fight as the J.P. McManus-owned mare matched the time figure she achieved when finishing a similar distance behind Impervious at Cork.

If Henry De Bromhead commits the mare to Cheltenham she will certainly add an extra dimension to the contest as her early speed will present a different challenge to Allegorie De Vassy, who has yet to face a challenge on the lead. The new course at Cheltenham is notorious for suiting bold jumping front runners, which is a profile both fit perfectly.

If there is a negative, the Robcour-owned mare is unproven over two-and-a-half-miles, although she gave the impression on Sunday her staying further is not beyond possibility. What is for certain, she is the only value left in the race

The only other chase on the card saw Billaway (110) return to winning ways, albeit not in the circumstances which will build confidence ahead of defending his Hunter Chase crown at Cheltenham.

The final circuit analysis shows the winning mares event to be 8.1secs or 40 lengths quicker than the hunter chase then, even when the pace eventually lifted in the last named race, the Patrick Mullins-ridden odds-on favourite was still slower through the closing stages as the mare finished off her race 1.4secs quicker.

The most impressive on the clock over hurdles on the day was Luimneach (130+) who took full advantage of the final hurdle blunder of By Your Side (124+) to win the 80-109 Handicap Hurdle.

Front-running

Jockey Aidan Kelly always had front-running Clever Currency covered, although he may have been surprised when By Your Side swept to the front on the approach to the final hurdle.

However, the crowd were deprived of a stirring finish as Gordon Elliott’s gelding made a challenge-ending mistake at the hurdle allowing Des McDonogh’s six-year-old to win easily, stopping the clock for his sectional at 61.7secs, which undoubtedly would have been quicker if battle ensued with By Your Side.

Sir Allen (116+) was quickest through the closing stages as his closing sectional of 59.7secs also saw him cover the final circuit 1.5secs quicker than Luimneach, which, although earning him an upgrade, was not enough to rate higher than the handicap winner given his overall race time superiority.

The J.P. McManus treble was initiated by Arthur Moore’s Hands Of Gold (95+) who produced a faster finish than James Joseph Mangan’s Spillane’s Tower (110) as the pair clocked 60.0secs and 61.0secs respectively. Neither race produced a time figure to compete with the aforementioned events.