WHEN the 6/5 joint-favourites Mr Jackman and Gapard Du Seuil settled down to do battle nearing the last flight of the O’Brien Event Catering Maiden Hurdle the race looked to be going entirely to script, but ultimately victory went to the 22/1 shot Formal Order who might well have found his true vocation.

A capable sort last year when he was placed four times on the flat, this four-year-old hadn’t shown much on his first two runs for Matthew Smith but a switch to jumping in this two-and-a-half-mile affair looks to have utterly revitalised his fortunes. In a race that turned into something of a sprint, Formal Order launched his effort on the approach to the last and landed running to join a game Mr Jackman. The latter, a dual bumper winner, clung on grimly on the run-in, but at the line Keith Donoghue’s mount carried the day by a head.