THE usual pre-Christmas highlight was provided by Ascot on Friday week and last Saturday. The distinct impression is that the JLT (Long Walk) Hurdle took less winning than usual, with Sam Spinner jumping erratically and unseating at the second and Unowhatimeanharry departing at the eighth.

Nonetheless, the time recorded by Paisley Park was decent and worth a timefigure of 152, for all that the horse immediately behind – West Approach (150) – cannot be relied upon to reproduce this.

An even better time came from Hell’s Kitchen in winning the preceding handicap chase in notable style, tanking along before coming to the end of his tether late on. A timefigure of 154 in such circumstances suggests he could be worth pitching in against the better two-milers at some stage.

Nicky Henderson introduced a very smart former French chaser later on the card in the form of Valtor, a Group 3 winner at Auteuil a couple of years back. The gelding’s easy win in the Silver Cup Handicap Chase corresponds to a timefigure of 147, but the likelihood is that he will rate higher than that in a more truly-run race.

The meeting was rounded off with a gutsy win from Mohaayed in the valuable Betfair Exchange Trophy Handicap Hurdle, an effort worth a 136 timefigure. Third-placed Western Ryder underlined again how solid was the form of the Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham in November in which he had come fifth.

The previous day’s Ascot card included a couple of Grade 2s, with both Angel’s Breath and Vinndication impressing greatly for the future.

The latter registered the better timefigure -– 147 compared to 127 -– but the former was making his jumps debut (having won a point in Ireland) and can be considered as good a prospect as any in the novice hurdle division at this stage.

Comparisons with the concluding bumper, won by Eden Du Houx with a very healthy 119 timefigure, need to take into account the omission of hurdles in the home straight due to wind.

Finally, it would be wrong to sign off without acknowledging a special effort on St Stephen’s Day at Wolverhampton from the popular sprinter Kachy, who lowered the six-furlong track record in a minor race while scoring comfortably by six lengths.

This is worth a timefigure of 116, and along the way he ran every mid-race section like clockwork in between 11.0s and 11.5s. He ends the year in as good form as he started it, and a success in the All-Weather Sprint Final at Lingfield on Good Friday looks very possible: he caught a tartar in the subsequent Diamond Jubilee runner-up City Light in the race last year.