Expert Analysis

According to the times the going was actually good rather than the official description of good to soft. The first four horses to finish held the final four places immediately after the final hurdle with a circuit to go. The Triumph Hurdle form was turned upside down on this quicker surface despite the near 30 days between the two festivals.

MANGE TOUT Perhaps a major difference with this winner was that she had been kept fresh for Aintree after missing the Cheltenham Festival. There was little between the two mares the last time they met at Leopardstown and they looked closely matched again here. It was interesting to hear Gordon Elliott suggest that the race was won and lost with Jack Kennedy’s riding from four out to the turn for home. It was certainly a positive move he made off the home bend thus forcing the runner up four horses wide entering the straight.

SELMA DE VARY She has now run three excellent races in top-class company and remains a novice for next season. It will be interesting to see whether her connections give her one more try to lose that novice tag at the Punchestown Festival. If she fails to win there, she will be an interesting player in the top novice contests next season.

INDIAN RIVER After racing out the back alongside the two mares that beat him, he made strong headway into the home straight before finishing an excellent third. He would have finished closer still but for making mistakes at each of the final two hurdles. He has had the toughest campaign of the first three to finish and can be marked up as such.

WOLF RAYET I would suggest that his two best runs of the season came when he was able to compete on better ground. Along with the first three horses to finish, he was probably advantaged by racing in the rear for the first half of the race.

MAESTRO CONTI I suspect the combination of this quicker ground on this speedier flat track was not for him. His jockey was not hard on him once beaten and we should see plenty of improvement in him once again when he is faced with a stiffer test of stamina.

WINSTON JUNIOR He has been on the go since October and this was his fifth race of the season. Perhaps that combination did not help his cause here. He also raced closer to the front than ideal in a race where it paid to be held up.

AMMES This was his sixth race of the season and his first run came in September. The quicker conditions should have played to his strengths based on his early season form.

MINELLA STUDY After running a big race in the Triumph Hurdle he seemed to be very flat here. Some horses improve in between the two British spring festivals and some regress. Maybe he was just one of the latter group.