Watch And Learn: Graeme North timefigure analysis

The ‘official’ jumps season opener domestically might these days be Chepstow’s early October meeting but the season proper, both here and in Ireland, now really only gets going at the end of November when the Betfair Chase and the Fighting Fifth Hurdle, both Grade 1 contests, are run on consecutive weekends and Fairyhouse’s Royal Bond meeting follows hard on the heels of Punchestown’s John Durkan Chase.

After last week’s fireworks on the clock at Punchestown – John Durkan first and second, Gaelic Warrior and Fact To File, both ran 170’s while in Ascot’s 1965 Chase Jango Baie posted a 164 and Lossiemouth recorded a 158 in the Morgiana Hurdle –Constitution Hill and The New Lion clashing in the Fighting Fifth, the likes of Romeo Coolio, Teahupoo and Ballyburn in action at Fairyhouse and the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury attracting its largest field since 2002 with four of the runners facing the starter off official marks of 155 it seemed there was a very good chance of more of the same.

It didn’t turn out that way, but it was still a spectacular week of action.

Nowhere was there more drama than in the Fighting Fifth. Since its inception in 1969 it has marked the start of the Grade 1 hurdles season in Britain.

Won by such luminaries as Comedy Of Errors and Birds Nest in its time, both of whom landed the race three times, the latest running saw the second appearance in the race of one-time brilliant Champion Hurdler Constitution Hill who won the race in 2022 when he was in his pomp (that was his fourth win in a ten-race undefeated sequence) but had only completed the course once since that sequence ended and that when tailed off at the 2025 Punchestown Festival.

On his best form Constitution Hill should have won easily - he has three Timeform performance ratings of 170 or more, and three timefigures of 160 or more including an outstanding 178 – but last season’s campaign fizzled out before Punchestown with falls at both Cheltenham and Aintree and despite reverting to the forcing tactics he had used when winning this race easily in 2022 got no further than the second.

His demise looked to open the way for The New Lion who was down at two miles for the first time since winning a bumper at Market Rasen in 2024, having beaten two horses who were both later stepped up to three miles in the Challow Hurdle before winning the Baring Bingham, but oddly enough he, too, came down at almost exactly the same spot as Constitution Hill had a circuit earlier.

With him out of the race, State Man’s replacement Anzadam, an easy winner of both races since joining Willie Mullins, went long odds in running but he found less then expected while racing slightly awkwardly, leaving the way open for the unconsidered 2025 Champion Hurdle winner Golden Ace to knuckle down well and score by a length-and-a-half with the Nemean Lion, a horse who’d tried his luck in the Stayers' Hurdle at the last Cheltenham Festival, close up behind.

The winning time over a new distance – almost 17 furlongs - was towards the slower end of those recorded since Timeform started returning timefigures over jumps in 2015, and Golden Ace’s winning timefigure, after a correction for ground deterioration, was an unremarkable 143, 3lb higher than in her Kingwell Hurdle win last year, after the three remaining runners had turned into the straight almost in line.

Indeed, the time wasn’t much faster than the opening novice hurdle at any stage of the race. That contest, won by hurdling newcomer Le Beau Madrik in a 107 timefigure, was run just under three seconds slower with the final four furlongs, according to data available on the Attheraces website, run just a second slower with the novice running the last two furlongs slightly quicker.

Along with the Northumberland Plate, the Fighting Fifth is arguably the only other race at Newcastle that isn’t a pale shadow of its former days.

Long one of the top handicap chases in the North and still possessing Class 1 status is the Rehearsal Chase and though it was won in 2022 from a mark of 164 by L’Homme Presse, whose only other run later that season saw him unseating at the last in the King George having just been headed, it’s nowadays more of a run-of-the-mill event where the winning horses tend to race off marks in the mid-140s.

That sort of statistic shouldn’t be held against progressive chasers anywhere, of course, as Dan Skelton’s Thistle Ask showed recently when winning the Haldon Gold Cup having two starts earlier scored off a mark of 115, albeit very easily, and like him Joel Parkinson and Sue Smith’s Konfusion scored from out of the handicap off a mark of 126 by the longest winning distance in the race this century in a contest that historically produces tight finishes.

Only seven, he might have run to this sort of level at Haydock last time but for unseating and there’s a good chance he’ll be seen back at Wetherby where he won first time out this season for the Rowland Meyrick on Boxing Day. His winning timefigure was 124, pointing to a lower quality of runner than we might usually expect in a race of this status.

That same comment had been made after Panic Attack had won the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham earlier this month and on paper, at least, the latest running of the Coral Gold Cup looked to demand much more of the nine-year-old mare off a 4lb higher mark, not least the trip was the longest she had faced yet and nearly six furlongs further than the Paddy Power.

With four of those who started at 14/1 or less failing to finish however, including favourite Myretown who went at the ninth when setting a steadier pace than might have been expected, and only two of the ten-strong Irish challenge making the first six, it perhaps wasn’t quite the competitive affair it looked as the field set off from a standing start.

That she could have put four lengths between herself and the rest in the Paddy Power given how well the field had been grouped not so long before meant the steadier than expected pace at Newbury played into her hands somewhat and a 132 timefigure, compared to the 146 performance rating she was awarded, backs that up, travelling strongly into the lead three furlongs out.

The other highlights on the clock from Newbury’s two-day meeting came from Wendigo in the Grade 2 John Francome Novices’ Chase and French Ship and Booster Bob in the handicaps.

Wendigo, who was second in last season’s Challow before finishing fifth in the Albert Bartlett, was beaten by subsequent Cheltenham winner Wade Out on his chasing debut at Newbury but stepped forward significantly on that effort after outstaying the runner-up No Questions Asked with Regent’s Stroll back in third in a 145 timefigure, significantly higher than he managed over hurdles. French Ship and Booster Bob ran 142 and 140 respectively, both also significant career bests.

Earlier in the week there had been an informative meeting at Thurles, although the historical data from the course still isn’t robust enough to return timefigures.

There were three chases on the card with the feature listed contest going to John Durkan also-ran Affordable Fury who took advantage of favourable weight conditions to get the better of several on the downgrade but as ever in Ireland, the beginners chase looked the most interesting race and was won by Kappa Jy Pyke who overturned his stablemate Salvator Mundi, miles clear of the rest.

The winner had looked out of his grade at both Cheltenham and Aintree last year but the fact his stable chose to run him there was a pointer to his ability and his jumping couldn’t be faulted for all the fences at Thurles are a long way removed from the stiffest in Ireland.

There was another interesting Willie Mullins trained winner on the same card in the shape of French import Le Divin Enfant. He had form with Lulamba, so to speak, in France having jumped the second last upsides him along with eight others on his final start there in 2024, but his winning time wasn’t much different than Daboya managed carrying 8lb more in the preceding mares' hurdle for all he won very easily. He’d be best put in the ‘promising’ bracket rather than anything better right now.

The standout figure from the first day of Fairyhouse’s two-day meeting came from chasing newcomer Jimmy Du Seuil in the pre-lunchtime beginners chase.

Second in the 2024 Baring Bingham and winner of the 2025 Coral Cup, he produced an effort every bit as good as that Coral Cup win and an even slightly better one on the clock (147) with a smooth transition to chasing that saw him defy a nine-month absence to beat last year’s Albert Bartlett runner-up The Big Westerner readily by four lengths, jumping fluently in the main.

The horse who’d beaten him easily in that Baring Bingham, of course, Ballyburn, so easily in fact he recorded a 157 timefigure in the process, formed part of the most interesting match-up the following afternoon as he took on the dual winner Teahupoo in the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle reverting to the smaller obstacles after a shaky and ultimately disappointing transition to fences last season.

Under conditions much softer than when he’d been turned over by Lossiemouth last year Teahupoo looked to have it in the bag comfortably at the last but only just hung on by a thread in a 136 timefigure. Both Ballyburn's efforts over three miles over fences last year were underwhelming but he was installed as 5/2 favourite for the Stayers Hurdle after this.

The other Grade 1 on the day, The Drinmore Novice Chase, and also sponsored by Bar 1 Betting, was won smoothly by Romeo Coolio who followed up his Down Royal win where plenty of fences were missing due to low sun with a very clean round of jumping.

The race was arguably his to lose with Scottish Grand National winner Captain Cody and two 33/1 or bigger shots among his five rivals but he couldn’t have won easier although a 136 timefigure doesn’t tell us anything new about him.

Koktail Brut won the second running of the downgraded Grade 2 Royal Bond with a performance around 5lb shy of what might have been expected in some of the recent better renewals, but the race was well run and his 135 timefigure matched his performance rating; back in third The Passing Wife caught the eye and the tracking data showed Gavin Cromwell’s late starter ran not only the second fastest section from a mile out to half a mile out of the day’s races over hurdles, just 0.07 seconds slower than Ballyburn, but also ran the fastest last furlong in his own contest by 0.46 seconds.

He’ll be interesting upped to two and a half miles.

More from Sporting Life

• Free bets
• Racecards
• Fast results
• Full results and free video replays
• Horse racing news
• Horse racing tips
• Horse racing features
• Download our free iOS and Android app
• Football and other sports tips
• Podcasts and video content

Safer gambling

We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.

If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.

Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.