Fontwell and Southwell

Only two meetings today, over jumps at Fontwell and on the all-weather at Southwell, before the racing industry enjoys a welcome Christmas break. Not however betting shop employees, as apparently most British bookies are to be open on Christmas Eve. Easily the most interesting racing comnes from Fontwell, where almost allthe top jockeys are in actipon. Paul Nicholls and Ruby Walsh are hardly regular visitors to te south cpoast track, but could well land a double with Our Bomber Harris in division two of the novice hurdle over 2 1/4 miles at 14.15 CET, a useful bumper who is well-bred for jumping and making his debut over sticks, and top-weight Oracls des Mottes in the 2 1/2 mile handicap chase at 16.15; German-bred Pretty Star (Venetia Williams/ Aidan Coleman) could be an interesting each-way alternative here, with ther stable now in good form. Two more German-breds, Tora Bora (Brendan Powell/ Wilson Renwick) and Wildbach (Sheena West/ Jamie Goldstein) cpntes te day´s best ra ce, a class 2 hurdles handicap over 3 miles 3 furlongs at 15.45. This looks a really tough race, with Little Shilling (Tim Vaughan/ Richard Killoran), who has won his last 5 races, now facing much stronger opposition, and slight preference is for local hope Honour High (Lady Herries/ Andrew Thornton). Another local trainer who can strike here is Gary Moore, who can take the beginners chase at 15.15 with Or Jaune with son Jamie in the saddle. The card at Southwell is very modest. The best race is the class 4 handicap at 15.30 over 1 mile 3 furlongs, but with only 6 mainly out of form runners, this is a weak contest. Opera Writer (Reg Hollinshead/ Andrea Atjeni) is one of the few with a positive profile and could win this with the autumn´s hottest apprentice aboard. Top-weight Coda Agency (David Arbuthnot/ Martin Dwyer), in good form recently both on the flat and over jumps, can defy top-weight to win the 1 3/4 mile handicap at 14.30.