Beverley and Fakenham

There is also racing this afternoon at Beverley (flat) and Fakenham (N.H.). Beverley , like Chester, is a track where the draw is all-important, and here the high numbers are strongly favoured. In this case, the horses to concentrate on are Pawan (Ann Stokell), Glasshoughton (Michael Dods/ Phillip Makin) and Namir (Derek Shaw/ Duran Fentiman) in the 5 furlongs handicap at 15.30 CET, and Ansells Pride (Bryan Smart/ Tom Eaves), Collateral Damage (Tim Easterby/ Duran Fentiman) and Froissee (Simon Callaghan/ Stephen Donohoe) in the mile handicap at 16.40, easily the best race on the card. At Fakenham the ground is firming up and punters should check for non-runners. Paul Nicholls, despite a bad evening at Exeter yesterday, looks the man to follow and Ofarel d´Airy, reverting to hurdles in the novice race over 3 miles at 16.30 after some unfortnate experiences over fences, and Ocean du Moulin in the noice chase at 17.05, both with Sam Thomas in the saddle, are both likely to start hot favourite. The latter however faces a stern opponent in Guy Haine´s The Sliotar (Jamie Moore), winner of 3 of his last 4 races and running for the first time in a steeplechase.