BY far the most visually impressive winner of the past week or so was Jancis in the Brownstown Stakes at Leopardstown, and not only did she pass the eye test, but her sectional times and profile are further positives.

The Brownstown was a steadily run race, and Jancis looked badly positioned in rear, but she swept past her rivals in the straight to win going away. Billy Lee didn’t need to get serious with only two brief cracks of the whip.

She looked something special and it was backed up by the clock, at least in the closing stages, her final two furlong splits per Course Track coming in at 22.67 seconds, the only runner on the card to break 23 seconds and far from all out to do so.

That she was able to do this having only had her first run 28 days beforehand is another point in her favour. Her initial maiden win over the same course and distance had been similar on the visuals but it looked an ordinary contest and runners with her profile are seldom competitive in group races.

Looking at Irish group races for three-year-olds and older since 2008, only 12 horses were successful after just a single previous run and win, just three of those wins coming from July onwards. Whereas a horse might be able to win a classic trial after a solitary start when plenty of the field are in a similar position, it becomes harder as the season goes on and their rivals build experience.

Girl power

Nor is her gender a negative given her trainer; Willie – or should it be Filly – McCreery excels with his female runners; of his 39 listed or group winners in Ireland and Britain since 2008, 34 of them were fillies or mares.

McCreery intends on running Jancis in the Matron Stakes next where her Leopardstown form will be a plus, though she is speedy and might even be able to drop down in distance. The only puzzle with her is how she was sent off 40/1 on debut!

Of the other Brownstown runners, the fourth Thornbrook was second best on the late sectionals despite meeting trouble and looks on the way back having been off the track for 10 months, while Curvature can be expected to improve for this run.

Having her first start of 2024, she was uncharacteristically dropped out over a trip too short and ground too fast, but she might prove a different proposition next time from the front.

Competitive

The Nasrullah Handicap later on the card was a competitive but messy race where an early prominent position was a help; the first four after a furlong all made the first seven places at the line.

The winner Lady Lunette, who was giving Ray Cody the biggest win of his career, was not one of those as she came from the rear meeting traffic, though her trainer reported afterwards that she seems to enjoy that sort of passage through her races, and she has been something of a trouble magnet lately, earning the in-running comment ‘short of room’ three times in her five previous starts.

Luck will likely continue to play a part in her races, but she did win well here at the line, and the Galway Mile is likely for her next start, while of those in behind, the sixth Alanya shaped with promise, held up in rear and having to come from an impossible position, nothing faster than her in the final three furlongs.

Improvement

She was coming off a break here so might improve for the run and while she shot up the ratings for a third place finish in a listed race last August, she actually shaped better than the form that day when making her challenge in an unfavoured part of the track.

She might yet be well-treated despite a lofty mark, the trip looking a bit sharp for her at Killarney on Wednesday.

Queens Fury set off at a furious gallop in the opening maiden and doing well enough to sustain it before finishing third, the winner Exactly and the runner-up Chantez both looking good prospects.

There was plenty of promise down the field from the likes of Moyglare entry Vanderbilt House and Angelight, while Tofino might be most interesting off all.

She only finished tenth of fourteen here, but she travelled as well as any and sustained a good move from rear to the line, fastest of all in final two furlongs per Course Track, while her yard are doing well with their juvenile fillies.

THERE was a surprise outcome of the season feature at Kilbeggan last Friday, the Kilmurray’s Homevalue Hardware Mullingar Midlands National, with Idas Boy winning at 40/1 though we have seen this movie before with Gigginstown in valuable handicap chases.

Going back to 2013, they have won 16 handicap chases worth €20,000 or more with horses sent off 16/1 or bigger, including two Irish Grand Nationals and a Galway Plate, and along with being unpredictable, this success might not be repeatable, Idas Boy not travelling early but picking up the bridle as the race went on, the win here likely to leave him on a mark he will struggle off.

The runner-up Amirite ran what is becoming a standard race for him, travelling well enough into things before looking less than resolute in the finish, while Mousey Brown shaped a bit better than her ninth place finish.

She had looked well-suited by three miles over hurdles but seemed not to get home here, travelling well and jumping quickly until two out before fading between the final two fences. Something like the Blazers might suit better for all she has been busy.

Not staying

On the subject of non-stayers, Charlie Luciano looked a blatant example of one in the closing beginners’ chase run over the same extended three-miles-and-one-furlong trip as the Midlands National.

A winner over a mile and a half on the flat in June, he went best through the race and looked to have made a winning move when sent on after two out only to fade after the last. He should be able to win over shorter.

The standout race in terms of pace and times on the Kilbeggan card was the Writech Handicap Hurdle over the extended two miles and three furlongs; there were five races over that trip at the meeting and this one was run in an overall time 8.9 seconds quicker than the next best.

The gallop here was unrelenting, with the first and second, both of which were held up, the only ones that could sustain it and come close to a finishing speed percentage of 100%, everything else in the field dipping into mid and low-90s, some even hitting the 80s.

Reminder

A win for The Wallpark looked unlikely early on as he needed a reminder, but things set up well for him as the others went too hard, though the runner-up Natural Look travelled best and might have made her move earlier than ideal, not helped by coming widest of all either.

Her stablemate Champella finishing fourth but did well to last as long as she did having set the strong pace and a stiffer test should suit more.

Of the other races on the card, King Kali shaped well after a short break when third in the confined maiden hurdle. He got shuffled back around halfway, and wasn’t fluent at either three or two out, before finishing strongly and looking in need of either further or softer ground.

With a mark of 100, a return to handicaps seems likely and the form of his Naas second back in April, the winner 17lb higher now, reads well.