THE British jumps season ended at an overcast Sandown Park last Saturday with a few performances of note but with nothing really leaping out on the clock.

The bet365 Gold Cup was at least well-run, and resulted in an impressive winner in Step Back, but his lowly weight means he gets a timefigure of 149 rather than something to match the best winners of yesteryear. Step Back’s time from three out of 42.6s was pretty sharp for the conditions at the end of a marathon trip and suggests there could well be more still to come.

Altior was the best runner on display and duly landed the bet365 Celebration Chase, though coming under fairly strong pressure early on the run-in and recording a 157 timefigure as against his best of 174. It seems more likely that 33/1 runner-up San Benedetto returned to his very best than that he surpassed it here.

Top Notch was back in winning form in the bet365 Oaksey Chase earlier on the card, but this was no great test and he has run a lot faster than the 145 timefigure he put up here. It is interesting to note that fourth-placed Double Shuffle continues to look flattered by his second to Might Bite in the King George VI Chase at Kempton, where the time suggested the form was false.

Call Me Lord was a remarkably easy winner of the bet365 Select Hurdle, by 16 lengths from Lil Rockefeller, but this is another effort where the evidence of the clock urges a bit of caution. His overall time equates to a timefigure of 137 – slightly less than he managed when second in the Imperial Cup here in March – and it is possible he caught most of his rivals off song at the end of the campaign.

SUMMING UP

How good was the 2018/2019 jumps campaign itself is probably in the eye of the beholder, but Irish racing in general had much to celebrate, both human and equine.

In timefigure terms, Irish-trained horses ended up at the top of most categories, including with Footpad (175 timefigure, best two-mile chaser – one ahead of Altior – and best novice chaser), Faugheen (166, with Buveur d’Air’s best of the campaign being 159), Samcro (161, best novice hurdler), Presenting Percy (160, best staying novice chaser), Farclas (155, best juvenile hurdler), Next Destination (152, best staying novice hurdler) and Tornado Flyer (132, best bumper effort).

Those give plenty to look forward to in the future, not least from Footpad and Samcro, but pride of place more widely goes to the British-trained Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Native River (176), whose duel with Might Bite (172) in March was the race of the season from this quarter.