All-weather action at Kempton and Southwell

Once again Kempton´s evening meeting has been moved forward to the afternoon, a sensible decision which means that there are two all-weather fixtures, Kempton and Southwell, this afternoon. In our view the best bet at Kempton is Sir Mark Prescott´s Cecily (Stephen Donohoe) in the 5 furlong handicap for 3yo´s at 15.55 CET. She landed a big gamble for the stable last June over this distance on turf, and her two recent starts have been over 6 furlongs, so a return to this trip should be just right. The 2 mile handicap at 17.05 is quite tricky, as few of the runners have recent winning form to their credit. The exception is Mission Control (James Boyle/ Martin Dwyer) and he can win his 3rd race from his last 4 starts; They all Laughed (Paul Hiatt/ Luke Morris) was staying on well when 3rd at Lingfield on Tuesday and looks the main danger. At Southwell there are some small fields, and Lady Longcroft (Jeff Pearce/ Jimmy Quinn) looks a near-certainty to beat her 3 opponents in the 1 1/2 mile maiden race at 15.25. She has been runner-up on all her 3 starts so far and although now stepping up in trip looks invincible in this company. Only 5 run in the claiming race over the same trip at 16.00, and Nawamees (David Evans/ Paul Doe), who won over this CD 16 days ago, can confirm the form with Rawdon (Gay Kelleway/ Kylie Manser), a winner since. The best betting race here is the 5 furlongs handicap at 16.35. Trainer Ron Harris holds a strong hand here with super-consistent Back in the Red (Kevin Ghunova) and Spic´n Span (Joe Fanning), but we prefer Replicator (Pat and Paul Eddery), now back to his best distance.