Big summer jumps meeting at Market Rasen

Market Rasen today stages one of the biggest jumps meetgings in Britain with an excellent card, which kicks off with the listed Summer Hurdle, a handicap over 2 miles 1 furlong at 15.05 with 17 runners. The four to concentrate on could be top-weight Sporazene (Paul Nicholls/ Ruby Walsh) - although the trainer thinks he cannot win off this rating -German-bred Moon Star (Paul Blockley/ Robert Thornton), who possibly needs softer going, Bureaucrat (Paul Hobbs/ Tom O´Brien), who won a flat handicap at Epsom on Derby Day last time, and bottom-weight Advancement (Luke Corcoran/ Timmy Murphy), a lightly-raced front-runner who has won his last 3 starts but faces far stronger opposition now. Another German-bred with good prospects is Landino (Sheena West/ Jamie Goldstein), who contests the class 2 handicap hurdle over 2 3/4 miles at 16.10, but he needs fast ground and That Look (Don Cantillon/ Dominic Elsworth) is pfererred, after winning his last two races in good style. The Summer Plate, a listed handicap chase over 2 3/4 miles at 16.40 is the main feature and has 16 runners. Main intertest will centre on the amazingly improved William Butler (Evan Williams/ Donal Fahy), who has won his last 4 races - all this month!- in tremendous fashion and could easily complete an ultra-quick fivetimer. However the opposition looks very tough and trainer Williams saddles two more, who he expects to run well, Warpath (Paul Moloney) and Mcevoy (Jamie Moore), while Peter Bowen, who has made this race his speciality, has 4 runners, including the last 2 winners Yes Sir (Tony McCoy) and Iron Man (Richard Johnson). Top-weight Il Duce (Alan King/( Robert Thornton) has been lightly-race the last 2 seasons, but is certainly good enough if in top form, while Paul Nicholls sounds much more optimistic about Oumeyade (Ruby Walsh) than he is about his chance in the first race.