Paul Hanagan vs Richard Hughes- next round

The battle for the jockeys´ championship in the U.K. is now getting really exciting, with Hanagan leading Hughes by 184-181 - his solid lead of a fortnight ago having been whittled away to just 3. Both have 7 rides (from 8 races) at Wolverhampton this afternoon, and we feel that Hanagan has a definite advantage. He has good prospects in the first 3 races- on Crystallus and Insolenceofoffice, both trained by Anne Duffield, in the two divisions of the 2yo maiden at 14.10 CET and 14.40, and Stanley Rigby, having his first run for Richard Fahey, in the 1 3/4 mile handicap at 15.15. He can also take the 8 1/2 furlongs handicap at 17.20 on Jeremy Glover´ s Slikback Jack. Hughes can win the 3yo handicap at 16.50 on the much-improved Inpursuitofhappiness (Charlie McBride), who has won twice in the last few days, and also Knockdolian (Roger Charlton) in the 1 1/2 mile handicap at 18.00.

The card is on the whole pretty feeble, and the only race in which there could be some decent runners is the 2yo maiden over 7 furlongs at 16.20. Hughes has a chance here on Brian Meehan´s Elusivity, but the one in which we are most interested is Godolphin´s newcomer Moonlight Dash (Ted Durcan), a son of Monsun. Lord of Persia (Ralph Beckett/ Jim Crowley), just beaten this CD last time, is the obvious danger.