THE all-weather scene is fairly low-key at present but there are still a few interesting performances being put up.

The surface was a bit slower at Dundalk on Friday week last than usual, and by some way the best time relative to ability was recorded by Super Focus (68 timefigure) in the concluding handicap. The Thomas Cleary-trained filly was helped by an aggressive front-running ride on Mademoiselle Penny, who faded into eighth, but the latter still looks reasonably-treated and should be given another chance.

Earlier on the card, both Alfredo Arcano (second in the opener) and Split The Atom (fifth in the five-furlong handicap) put in sharp late sectionals and could be winning before long.

The action at Britain’s newest synthetic track, Newcastle, is particularly worth closer inspection at present, as finishing speed figures show that jockeys have gone from tending to do too much too soon on a course with quite a stiff finish to leaving things a bit too late. It is all part of a learning curve.

Gymnaste and Galilee Chapel fell victim of steady early paces at the course last week and came up agonisingly short in second places. Closing sectionals suggest both were “moral” winners.

It was a different scenario with Justice Pleasing the following day, as the three-year-old got caught up in a pace burnout at a seven-furlong trip which probably taxes his stamina. He helped force the pace until the final furlong before fading into sixth.

The 10-furlong maiden for two-year-olds which opened Monday’s meeting at Lingfield looked decidedly ordinary on the face of it but was run in a surprisingly fast time, only just slower than that recorded by the fairly useful older horse Van Huysen carrying less weight later on.

Plead won it, on her fifth start in maidens, with an 83 timefigure that could easily prove conservative. Third-placed Naseem, who helped force the pace on what was his debut, looks the one above all others to take out of the race.