GENTLEMAN De Mee (139) gave the visual impression he is returning to the form which saw him easily account for Edwardstone at Aintree last spring.

However, the clock shows it was actually the jockey of the moment Danny Mullins who was the star of the show in the Grade 1 Ladbrokes Dublin Chase as he judged the fractions to perfection aboard the J.P. McManus-owned gelding.

The overall race time was the slowest of the day over fences, yet the circuit time was the fastest as Mullins accelerated early in the back straight after coasting through the early stages.

The combination of the drying ground and jockeyship ensured the seven-year-old was not for catching on the day and he will likely head for the Champion Chase with his confidence high.

The reasoning behind not rating the performance any higher is the overall race time of 4m13.9secs was closer to the time recorded by Final Orders than El Fabiolo the previous day, on similar ground according to my going correction.

Handicap chase

The Goffer (149) landed the handicap chase in a time just 1.7secs slower than Mighty Potter, which when taken literally represents an above average time figure for the grade.

The closing sectionals portray the race as being a stamina test as Gordon Elliott’s gelding covered the ground from the third last fence in 66.8secs.

The placed horse to emerge with credit is Top Ville Ben (146) as he easily faired the best of those ridden prominently and was gaining on the winner again at the line, while West Cork Wildway (141) was creeping into contention when making a mistake at the second last fence.

Gerri impresses

The final word this week goes to another Gordon Elliott chaser, Gerri Colombe (158+), who enhanced his Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase credentials with a performance of high quality on the clock in the Grade 1 Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase at Sandown.

The Robcour-owned six-year-old combined the fastest time figure with the sectionals to match, as he covered the closing sectional and final circuit faster than the returning to form Third Time Lucki (148), who himself had impressed when collaring the speedy Fast Buck (147) after the final fence in the two-mile handicap chase earlier on the Sandown card.

Green Book (145), Sandown, Saturday, February 4th – recorded back-to-back wins in the Pertemps Qualifier and looks on track for the final in March.

City Chief (151), Wetherby, Saturday, February 4th – ran to a high level in the four runner Grade 2 Towton Novices’ Chase, he can figure in the staying chases in the Spring.

Pay The Piper (145), Musselburgh, Sunday, February 5th – like others from his small stable has returned to form, most effective at two miles on a decent surface.