N.H. racing at Chepstow, Warwick and Fairyhouse (Ireland)

Paul Nicholls is usually the trainer to follow at Chepstow, but he has only one runner today, St. Killians Run, the likely favourite in the maiden hurdle at 14.00 CET. Timmy Murphy is down to ride, but was injured in a fall yesterday. Best race here is the 3 mile handicap hurdle at 16.15. David Pipe´s top-weight Another Display (Tom Scudamore) is one for the short list here, as is Silver Spinner (Alan King/ Robert Thornton) and German-bred Passato (Jo Davis/ Danny Burton). Another German-bred with a good each-way chance is Kyoto (Nigel Hawke/ David Dennis) in the handicap hurdle at 13.50 at Warwick. The novice chase here at 15.30 is an interesting event, even though there are only 5 runners. Nick Gifford saddles Straw Bear (Tony McCoy), once a major Champion Hurdle hope but who was unable to live up to those expectations. He needs to jump better though, and Henrietta Knight´s Somersby (Paul Moloney) will take advantage of any mistakes. Both have been off since the spring, wh ile Charlie Mann´ s Kanad (Noel Fehily), also in with a chance on old hurdles form, has been out of action for even longer. There are the usual huge fields at the Irish meeting at Fairyhouse, but only 10 line up for the main event, a novice hurdle over 2 1/2 miles at 15.00. This should be dominated by Noel Meade´s Asigh Pearl and Enda Bolger´s Arabella Boy, ridden by the siblings Paul and Nina Carberry. Paul is in the doghouse at present, following his failure to pass an alcohol test on Saturday, but is still allowed to ride until the hearing tekes place; a long suspension then beckons.