Killarney, Windsor and Towcester (N.H.) this evening

There is a mixed card (4 N.H. races, 2 flat and one bumper) at Killarney this evening, where the track has come in for heavy criticism following several falls and injuries and six horses put down at the weekend. One of the fallers was champion Ruby Walsh, and it is not clear if he will be able to ride today. If he is, he can win the hurdle race at 19.10 CET on Apt Approach and the beginners chase at 20.10 on Sports Line, both for trainer Willie Mullins. Tony McCoy has been booked by Northern Irish trainer James Lambe for 5 rides at Towcester; Hunting Tower at 20.30 and Balakar (despite his 13 years!) half an hour later probably have the best chances, but in the selling hurdle at 20.00 he is unlikely to be able to defeat the reliable Noticeable (Tony Haynes/ Robert Thornton). Easily the best event of the day is the listed race over a mile at 19.50 at Windsor. Abbondanza (Ian Semple/ Robert Winston) is on a roll and won his last 3 races, all on the all-weather at Lingfield, but faces much stronger opposition now.

Dijeer (Saeed bin Suroor/ Frankie Dettori) would have a chance at his best, but the Godolphin horses are still not firing properly. The two highest-rated runners are Ordnance Row (Richard Hannon/ Richard Hughes) and Laa Rayb (Mark Johnston/ Roystin Ffrench) and they can probably fight out the finish.Ordnance Row won this race last year, ran well on Saturday and last season defeated Laa Raybn, but we still prefer the latter, who ran a cracking race at Cologne last Septmber when second to Precious Boy.