Leicester and Plumpton

Alan King and his stable jockey Choc Thornton have had a relatively quiet season so far, but that could change at Plumpton today, where they have fancied runners in several races. The Betchworth Kid, third in the Goodwood Cup, is one the most interesting new recruits to N.H. racing, and if he can jump should certainly win the novice hurdle at 14.50 CET. It is a simi.lar situation half an hour later with Stormhoek, an easy winer of a bumper on his only run so far, while smart hurdler Bensalem, winner of 4 of his 5 starts so far, makes his chasing debut at 15.20. At Leicester there is an all-hurdles card and the best race is the 2 mile handicap at 15.40. This lpooks wide open and a case can be made for many of the 14 runners. Top-weight Zanir (Tom George/ Giles Hawkins) has been running in better events and is dropped in grade here, while Lustra Bad (David Pipe/ Tom Scudamore) and Clova Road (Philip Hobbs/ Richard Johnson) will have their supporters. However the most interestin g runners are Basalt (Tim Pitt/ Phil Kinsella), winner of his only start over hurdles back in the summer of 2008, and bottom-weight The Cayterers (Tony Carroll/ Paddy Merrigan), who has not run over jumps for even longer, but has won 3 times on the level this year.