N.H. racing at Folkestone and Catterick

the usual Tuesday diet of low grade racing today, with 2 N.H. meetings in the U.K. At Folkestone, the handicap chase over 2 miles 5 furlongs at 16.00 CET is the most interesting event; only 6 runners, but still a very open affair. When Henrietta Knight books Tony McCoy she usually means business, so the very consistent Soixante must have a chance, but he has been off the track since April and meets several in-form opponents, notably the two top-weights Jump Jet (Nigel Twiston-Davies/ Paddy Brennan) and Vodka Brook (Sue Alner/ Daryl Jacob). The handicap hurdle an hour earlier has 16 runners, but looks more straightforward; Victory Surge (Jonjo O´Neill/ McCoy) beat Anay Turge (Nigel Hawke/ David Dennis) in a similar event at Warwick last time and they could easily take the first two places again, with the latter possibly gaining revenge on 7 lbs better terms. Richard Johnson has 2 rides for Philip Hobbs here, with Volador in the maiden hurdle at 16.30 having clearly the better chance. If he scores, it would be the 2,000th career winner for Richard Johnson.

At Catterick, useful flat handicapper Tilt (Brian Ellison/ Keith Mercer) is an interesting hurdles debutant at 14.20; the penalised Lightening Rod and Meridin City are the obvious dangers. The staying handicap chase at 14.50 looks very tricky, with Le Vert Galant (Ferdy Murphy/ Neil Moscrop) dangerous off his low weight, but consistent Super Baby (up on distance) and Youngstown are the two to beat. Our best bet here is Broughton Green (Jim Old/ Jason Maguire), who ran respectably against much better opposition last time, and can defy top weight in the staying handicap hurdle at 15.20.