THE weekend before Cheltenham always resembles the calm before a storm in jump racing terms. Nonetheless, there were a few noteworthy performances which may go under the radar otherwise.

The ground was barely raceable at Gowran Park on Saturday, but Saglawy (138), Goulane Chosen (143) and Pairofbrowneyes (141) all recorded useful winning timefigures within that context.

Pallasator (130) and Spider Web (127) were pretty quick the day before at Leopardstown, where the surface was far more accommodating.

The grand old stager Jezki needed to show speed more than stamina to win the opener on that Leopardstown card (112% finishing speed) and ran just a 106 timefigure by my reckoning, well down on his seasonal best of 148.

Sandown Park’s two-day meeting was the venue for another veteran’s popular success, with 14-year-old Pete The Feat running an up-to-scratch 134 timefigure in winning a staying handicap chase.

The Saturday highlight, the Imperial Cup Handicap Hurdle, went to the ex-Irish Mr Antolini, though in a modest overall time. He ran the two miles slightly quicker than the juvenile Eragon De Chanay did in the opener, but the latter was carrying 21lbs more. I have timefigures of 123 on Mr Antolini and a decidedly useful 136 on Eragon De Chanay.

There were also notable winning timefigures earlier in the week at lesser meetings from Kauto Riko (138, at Hereford) and Moabit (145, at Wincanton).