Favourites in trouble at Naas as Jasmin De Vaux finds the transition from bumpers to hurdles is far from easy

Even in their moment of triumph, having just landed the Champion Bumper at the last Cheltenham Festival, Patrick Mullins shared a useful word of caution about the future prospects of Jasmin De Vaux. "He's very small, very narrow, very short, he doesn't do anything flashy," the jockey said, which hopefully acted as a brake on the enthusiasm of anyone minded to take a long-range price about the horse for one of the novice hurdles at the upcoming festival.

The six-year-old was prominent in the betting for the Supreme at one stage and was single-figures for the Turners until his latest outing at Naas on Sunday. That, unfortunately, has confirmed that his jumping is holding him back and the 11-8 favourite was eventually beaten 22 lengths.

Backers would have suspected their fate from the very first obstacle, which he approached in front but jumped with such hesitancy that he emerged in third. He did something similar at the seventh, on the far side, backing off and giving it plenty of air.