All-weather action at Southwell and Wolverhampton.

In these dark days of winter all-weather racing keeps the show on the road, but today´s cards at Southwell this afternoon and Wolverhampton this evening are not inspiring. At Southwell, the class 4 handicap over 7 furlongs at 13.40 CET is quite open; both Nightjar (Mark Johnston/ Greg Fairley) and Captain Macarry (Bryan Smart/ Tom Eaves) won over this CD on their penultimate start and have again run well since, but top-weight Resplendent Nova (Paul Howling/ Jimmy Quinn) sets a decent standard and can ge back on the winning trail. In the 6 furlongs handicap at 15.50 top-weight Realt Na Mara (Hughe Morrison/ Travis Block) can repeat his last year´s win here, but Replicator (Pat and Paul Eddery), having his first start here, and consistent River Thames (Kevin Ryan/ Chris Catlin) look dangerous. Quite a few of the trainers and jockeys move on to the floodlit meeting at Wolverhampton, and Ryan and Catlin have another good chance with Distinctly Game in the 6 furlongs handicap at 2 2.20. But the one to watch here is clearly Ted Walsh´s Collingwood (Shane Kelly), who has put up several decent performances at Dundalk. The Irish trainer, father of Ruby, is always dangerous on his rare trips to the U.K. and can also win the 9 furlongs handicap at 19.50 with January, an easy winner over this CD in a maiden race 18 days ago. German-bred Sagunt (Sean Curran/ Ross Atkinson) was not disgraced last time at Lingfield, despite finishing only 8th, and meets inferior opposition in the 1 1/2 mile handicap at 21.20; he could run well despite top-weight at a good price.