IT was a quiet week on the racecourse in Britain, where the John Smith’s provided the only time performance of real note at a higher level, with winner Quest For More (116 timefigure) and runner-up Max Dynamite (115 timefigure) flagging themselves up as deserving of a crack at a Cup race.

Gifted Master has locked horns with some of the better early-season two-year-olds, coming off worse, but he seems to be progressing judged on his Newcastle win in a decidedly useful time. His 106 timefigure sneaks him into the top 10 juvenile time performances so far, the list headed by Acapulco (117) and Buratino (114).

It is also worth having a second look at the two-year-old maiden at Newmarket landed by Ibn Malik, a race won by a horse called Kingman two years ago. The winner gets a timefigure of 99, while second and third (Comicas, 98, and John Splendid, 95) each look good enough to win a similar contest.