It all made for a fast and furious Champion Hurdle, won by Jezki from My Tent Or Yours, with a sectional from 3 out (approximately 4f from home, according to Google Earth) of 53.4s for the first two and 53.1s for The New One. That is slightly quicker than par, even after the conditions have been taken into account, and more than 2.0s quicker than even the fastest finish in the race recently (55.5s by Hurricane Fly in 2011).
It makes for an intriguing comparison with the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, which opened the card. The impressive winner of that race, Vautour, ran the race notably efficiently (54.7s from 3 out), while some of those behind him flagged late on having tried to keep up.
This is where Vautour’s times would have placed him in the Champion Hurdle field: 4 lengths behind at the second; 5 lengths behind at the fourth; dead level at three out (approaching which stage the Champion Hurdle steadied briefly); a length down two out; and 5 lengths down at the last.
Vautour would have been just behind fourth-placed Hurricane Fly by the line on hand times. That is pretty good for a horse who is a novice, and who was by no means all out to win, and it is a bit more to be expected than the results in 2013, when the Champion Hurdlers went too fast mid-race and came back significantly slower than the novices.
It must, of course, be wondered what might have happened had The New One not been hampered early on in the Champion Hurdle, something which obstacle-to-obstacle sectionals alone cannot answer. He closed up a bit in the part of the race when the good pace briefly slackened, and he made up only about a length and a half from three out. But he made up more ground than that from the last, having been caught flat-footed, and was undeniably finishing best.
We can look forward with relish to the rematches between Jezki, My Tent Or Yours and The New One already, and further ahead to Vautour testing their mettle also.
