I'm Ravenous showed his appetite for the jumps game by pipping Isle Of Sark a head in a maiden hurdle at Sedgefield last week; after the race winning trainer Ben Pauling said: 'The season is hotting up...'
It most certainly is, although not perhaps to a temperature of 400C, as the BBC weather app recently forecast for the city of Nottingham.
The Racing Post has highlighted Dan Skelton's red-hot start to the new campaign.
With over £440,000 in prize money banked at the end of last month, Skelton, pipped for the trainers' title by Willie Mullins last year, is more than £250,000 ahead this term.
Chepstow's two day meeting this weekend traditionally marks a change of pace in proceedings.
The mare Flying Fortune won the Persian War Hurdle with something to spare today, having won the Fixed Brush Final at Worcester a fortnight ago.
Stablemate Letterston Lily, third behind Flying Fortune at Worcester, goes in tomorrow's Paul Ferguson's Jumpers To Follow 4-Y-O Hurdle (2.10) . Enthusiasm is tempered by the fact regular pilot Sean Bowen is booked to ride Roaring Legend.
In the Silver Trophy (3.20) only two from a field of eighteen have seen a racecourse in the past eight weeks - Tritonic and Forever William.
Twinjets currently heads the market for the Native River Handicap Chase (4.35); with just three chase starts to his name, Paul Nicholls' charge meets more experienced rivals and, to date, hasn't convinced over the larger obstacles.
I like Arizona Cardinal who finished off last season winning the Topham at Aintree but he races off a career high mark of 142 and 8/1 doesn't make much appeal.
Nassalam won last year's Welsh National at this track by an astonishing 34 lengths off 145. He was duly hammered by the handicapper and is set to carry top weight.
Team Twiston-Davies, habitually amongst the front runners around this time of year, have made quite some start this term, recording eight wins from 25 runners (32%) in the past fortnight.
Sam will probably feel Scottie's Sister was one that got away at Ludlow on Wednesday, the jockey dropping his whip after the last and finishing half a length second to the Alan King trained One Glance.
With my annual trip to the Shropshire track coming up I carried out some preliminary spadework on the card for that first Ludlow meet of the new term.
Rickety Bridge and Mostly Sunny dominated the market in the Remembering Margaret Roberts Novices' Hurdle (3.05) while Highly Recommended had been noted as an 'eyecatcher', making modest late headway in a Worcester race three weeks earlier.
Mel Rowley's charge was priced 40/1 on Tuesday evening but, quite reasonably, I reasoned it was highly unlikely both market principals would underperform in a race of this nature so didn't place a wager of any kind.
In the event 4/7 favourite Rickety Bridge jumped poorly throughout and was beaten a long way out while 7/4 chance Mostly Sunny appeared to slip on the home turn allowing Highly Recommended (22/1) to saunter home 17 lengths clear.
To quote Ben Pauling: 'The season is hotting up...'
