IT wasn’t a headline week for British racing but half a dozen performances are worthy of consideration.

Grade 1 winner Champ (140) made a winning chasing debut at Newbury. He travelled and jumped well, was clever at fences when he needed to be, hit his customary flat spot turning for home, but was soon well in command. The performance, while solid on the clock, was more about what he has the potential to be rather than being particularly striking on the day.

Of greater note from a clock perspective was Reserve Tank (153) who posted a career personal-best in a comfortable win in the Grade 2 Rising Stars Novices’ Chase. A strong gallop throughout, Reserve Tank’s time compared very favourably on the clock with a course-and-distance handicap chase on the card. A surprise hurdling star last season, Colin Tizzard’s charge looks equally adept over fences. If You Say Run (145, sex-adjusted) and Commanche Red (139) ran solid efforts to fill the places.

Windsor Avenue (154) put his own credentials on the line in seeing off the higher rated Ballymoy at Carlisle on Monday. Given an easy lead, he jumped impeccably and set average fractions. When pressed by Ballymoy (137p), he briefly looked vulnerable but readily drew clear in some very swift closing sectionals. He was over seven seconds faster from the three-furlong point than 116-rated Pookie Pekan, who won the handicap chase, despite nearly identical times to that point. He’s held in the highest regard by trainer Brian Ellison, and that looks well deserved on the back of this effort.

RSA Chase second Santini was long-odds on for what appeared a formality at Sandown on Sunday, but he had to work very hard to see off Now McGinty. My instinct pre-race was that the track wouldn’t suit this old-fashioned chasing type and the visual impression you came away with was pretty grim. In spite of that, while I would be reluctant to place a precise number on the run, the clock performance was actually solid with a fair pace and decent sectionals.

I’ve long thought the Cheltenham Gold Cup would suit Santini perfectly and I’d be reluctant to write him off on the back of this run.

The transition from juvenile to open company is often a fraught one but, while not blisteringly impressive, Elite Hurdle winner Fusil Raffles (151) put up a performance to equal his best last season. Second-placed Grand Sancy (148) saves his best runs for this track and this run would look to equal his previous best set during his novice campaign. The Champion Hurdle division lacks strength in depth, but it would nonetheless take a fair leap for either of these two to reach the necessary level to be competitive in a race of that quality.