Foildubh’s jockey chose to press Un De Sceaux which prompted Willie Mullins’ charge to accelerate and cover the distance from the third jump to the last a monstrous 7.9 seconds faster than they went in the earlier maiden hurdle on the same card. Foildubh had been burned off long before then but Un De Sceaux kept on charging to score by 53 lengths.

It is tempting to speculate on how fast Un De Sceaux might have run if Ruby Walsh hadn’t allowed him to coast up the run-in.