NEWBURY 15:35

All 24 ran. Hurdles: 8.

Time: 4m 9.3s Closing Sectional: (4.05f): 65.3s (94.8%)

Overrounds: Industry SP 139%, Betfair SP 100.6%

There are competitive handicaps, and then there's this, a maximum field brimming with improvers, quality as well as quantity, half of them running from marks of 140 or more, virtually the class and competition of any Festival handicap; one defining difference, however, between those spring events and this was the ground, these testing conditions diluting things in a big way, in conjunction with the gallop, little or no let up in it, the front wave getting racing from a good way out, all too much for many; Kalashnikov was the fifth novice to win this in the last 6 years, coming from the same race - the Grade 1 Tolworth - as the 2016 winner Agrapart.

KALASHNIKOV (IRE) clearly got an education in the Tolworth, his semi-sleepy display there evidently not related to the mud, otherwise he wouldn't have done this, new edges on him to cope in this high-intensity environment, showing all and more of the class that his early wins hinted at; raced in mid-field, still had a little naivety to push through (off bridle before 3 out) but really warmed up while others wilted, hit 2 out but led soon after, saw it out strongly, the strung-out field behind him a testament to him; in theory, with his big rating out of this, he's on the front row of the grid for the Supreme (his reported Cheltenham target), but obviously a race like this - especially how it played out - makes for greater expression than the other top novices like Getabird and co have so far had.

BLEU ET ROUGE (FR) has really come of age this season, big-field handicaps the making of him, doing better still than at Ascot, tongue tied this time but helped at least as much by the stronger gallop, biding his time out the back before cruising through after 3 out, the novice winner just too hot to handle, but the distance Bleu Et Rouge put between himself and all the rest says plenty; he has laid it all out by now, yet he's less likely to meet lurkers in the County Hurdle.

SPIRITOFTHEGAMES (IRE) has well and truly arrived in the bigger time, the results speaking for themselves, placed in 2 of the hottest handicaps of the season, the stamina he showed for second in the Lanzarote helping him here, in an attritional race, hardly needing the sharpening effect of the cheekpieces, patiently ridden until getting a move on 3 out, going third at the last.

COEUR BLIMEY (IRE) certainly has the engine for these races, but the other moving parts aren't of the same calibre, hamstrung by his hurdling technique time and again, pretty remarkable that he could rally for fourth after a series of stuttering jumps had left him two-thirds back 2 out; his problem is easier identified than corrected, cheekpieces no solution.

REMILUC (FR) has to play in this league now, dictated by his climb up the handicap, and gave it a good shot, his finishing position saying more than the rating itself in this case, particularly as he was in the teeth of the race all the more than the first 3, going on 3 out, headed after 2 out (crossed by loose horse on run to it); he has a lower chase mark to work with, beaten 9 lengths into second by Saint Calvados at Newbury in late-December.

LOUGH DERG SPIRIT (IRE) had been second on his handicap debut in the autumn, but that was the small-field Elite around Wincanton, hardly preperation for this, and there's something to be said for a top-quarter finish even if he never threatened, racing in mid-field and finding it hard work from 3 out, at least sticking to it, liable to take a lot from this experience.

ZALVADOS (FR) shaped well, at the foot of the weights but looking comfortable in this company, as told by the snapshot at 2 out when he was within 3l of the lead, doing a lot of running to get there from the rear, explaining - along with the conditions - his fading finish, including a tired mistake at the last; he had blinkers on for the first time, no harm but not obviously necessary from his broadly upward curve, the peak still ahead of him from what he did for nine-tenths of this race.

WILLIAM H BONNEY amongst the market principals for the race last year, purposely coming in fresher this time but failing to deliver again, threatening more when closing on the run to 2 out, hard to blame the ground in his case; it may be time to turn to headgear, to try to fix the increasing issue of his end product.

MISTERTON freshened up for this, having graduated to the bigger leagues this season, and this performance doesn't undo his progressive work from the autumn, especially as he had more excuse than most for tiring, beyond the break, hard at it from the outset, right in the firing line until 2 out.

VERDANA BLUE (IRE) successful on soft once before, but she's usually steered clear of such ground, rationalised by this, yet still making it clear that she's thriving by going the longest of all on the bridle, albeit an element of the rider holding her together, a looming presence after 3 out but cutting out approaching the last, also looked after to a degree for another day; there was talk beforehand of her contesting the Champion Hurdle, but the performance that might get her mid-division in that could win her a County Hurdle from a mark that's probably a bit beneath her.

MOON RACER (IRE) began the latest chapter of a career that has been blighted by problems, tongue tied for this return (also had wind surgery), short on positives out of it, tentative right through, only passing a few beaten rivals late in the piece; it's hard to guess how/where he goes from here.

KAYF GRACE met with a bump in the road, far more that than a sign of things to come, the impression she made at Kempton still fresh in the mind, the different demends of this higher-intensity race seeming to catch up with her after 3 out; though aged 8, this was only her fourth start over hurdles.

LALOR (GER) flattened 4 out, the beginning of the end of his effort, having kept close tabs to that point; despite not showing it on this handicap debut (first start since wind operation), the feeling remains that if he's to upgrade his form then it will be in this sort of environment; his Aintree win in the Grade 2 bumper was one of the few times he's been away from soft/heavy ground in his career.

CHARLI PARCS (FR) has some flaw in his make-up, performing differently with each race this season, finding little this time, compared to how he travelled (ridden handier), still going smoothly approaching 2 out, showing his worth in one sense, and ground as testing as this possibly isn't for him.

NIETZSCHE has the sort of Flat background/pedigree that suggests he'll shine most away from the mud, and why else this was different from Ascot (where he made an impact) was the more patient tactics (dropped out) and absence of a hood, no impression.

JENKINS (IRE) well-in at the weights, but what got him here proved his downfall this time, the blinkers and ride revving him up too much, briefly opening a gap 4 out, headed and running on empty by 2 out.

HIGH BRIDGE had only once encountered ground worse than good to soft (odds-on bumper winner that day), and this offers some insight as to why he's been kept away from it, never competitive, held up more than he usually is, his first race since beating Charli Parcs here in early-December.

PROJECT BLUEBOOK (FR) Flat racer first and a hurdler second, in career advancement, and the conditions he's been faced with in the Greatwood and then here for his last 2 starts (3 months apart) haven't got the best out of him, no headway at all this time, always behind.

POPPY KAY used to smaller fields, and a race like this was something of a shock to her system, making only a brief effort (from off the pace) after 3 out, eased in the end.

DIVIN BERE (FR) no upturn from his reappearance, more settled this time (restrained towards rear), but the ground was equally if not more testing; his surge at the Festivals last spring shouldn't be forgotten just yet.

SILVER STREAK (IRE) first non-completion of his life, unseating at the second; he'd finished 2 places ahead of Bleu Et Rouge at Ascot.

IRISH ROE (IRE) was ahead of the game from a handicapping perspective but the run that made her so - only a fortnight earlier - perhaps took the edge off her for this, a drawn-out battle with Marias's Benefit leaving its mark, no impact in this, tailed off when pulled up before 2 out.

KNOCKNANUSS (IRE) had earnt this promotion but didn't live up to it, his first experience of a race like this, not ridden so prominently (in mid-division) and dropping away 3 out.

WATERLORD never looked comfortable, pulled up before 3 out and subsequently found to have bled.