THE jumps season “proper” seems to be taking longer than usual to swing into top gear this year, but there were several at-least-useful winning performances on time in the last week, headed by the 157-rated effort of Sub Lieutenant in the Irish Daily Star Chase at Punchestown on Wednesday.

The nine-length runner-up Outlander was conceding 10lbs and comes out slightly better on 159, but the rejuvenated Sub Lieutenant seems the more reliable proposition these days.