Catterick, Plumpton and Wolverhampton

With just over a fortnight to go before the Cheltenham Festival, there is no point in expecting high class racing for the next 2 weeks and today´s cards are all very low standard. At Catterick the card opens with a handicap hurdle for lady amateur riders at 15.10 CET with 17 runners and we like the look of German-bred Bright Sparky (Mick Easterby/ Jacqueline Coward). He has so far been very inconsistent over the sticks, but is in good form on the flat, having finished 121 on his last 3 starts, all at Wolverhampton. These were admittedly very bad races, but so is this. Also at Catterick, we expect A Bridge Too Far (Donald McCain/ Jason Maguire) to win the novice hurdle at 16.40 and Silent Cliche (Howard Johnson/ Brian Hughes) to take the beginners chase half an hour later. The former was an easy winner at Wetherby 5 weeks ago and was later sold for a big sum to his present connections who can recoup a tiny fraction today. The latter was very unlucky last time at Sedgefi eld and can recover those losses today.

Betting forecast:
1. Race: Winter Alchemy - Dance Sauvage - Knight Valliant
2. Race: San Deng - Whatdoidowiththat - Wor Rom
3. Race: Folk Tune - Pamak D`Airy - Ice Image
4. Race: A Bridge Too Far - Dr Flynn - Total Submission
5. Race: Silent Cliche - Wolf Moon - Soft Spoken Guy
6. Race: Scarvagh Rose - A P Ling - Tchikita
7. Race: Sir Charlie Hutch - Evans Wood - Sinfield




There are also some German-breds in action at Plumpton - Sulpius (Bob Buckler/ Nathan Sweeney) and Promised Wings (Charlie Gordon/ Colin Bolger), who both run in the maiden hurdle at 15.20. The former has a good Schlenderhan pedigree but has shown very little so far, but the latter has good prospects after finishing runner-up (at 66-1) last time at Folkestone, making steady headway from the rear. Any further improvement puts him with a great chance in this field. Otherwise it should pay to stick to course specialists at this weird track, notably Sebastiano (Gary and Jamie Moore) at 16.20 and Sumdancer (Michael Madgwick/ Ian Popham), who can repeat his 2010 victory in the handicap chase at 16.50.

Betting forecast:
1. Race: Alystar - Koup De Kanon - Promised Wings
2. Race: Asturienne - Evella - Gan On
3. Race: Beau Lake - Sebastiano - Rushwee
4. Race: Prince Louis - Owner Occupier - Restezen D`Armor
5. Race: Can`T Remember - Twin Bud - Kaituna
6. Race: Master D`Or - Western Whisky - Gentleman Jimmy
7. Race: Saulty Max - Grey Cruzene - Brunette`Sonly




Mark Johnston´s 3yo´s always seem to run much on their second starts, and for that reason we expect him to land a double a Wolverhampton with Black Pond at 18.00 and Barnum half an hour later, both partnered by Joe Fanning. Another one to watch here is Dubai Hills (Bryan Smart/ A Carter), who has won 4 successive races at Southwell and can continue his winning run here at 16.30, while Stargazing (Marco Botti/ Toby Atkinson) can complete a CD treble at 17.00.

Betting forecast:
1. Race: Island Legend - Six Wives - Desert Strike
2. Race: Stand Beside Me - We`Ll Deal Again - Dr Red Eye
3. Race: Dubai Hills - Below Zero - Captain Ramius
4. Race: Stargazing - What`S Up Doc - Black Coffee
5. Race: Duneen Dream - Director General - Kielty`S Folly
6. Race: Black Pond - Sim Sala Bim - Arizona High
7. Race: Loyal N Trusted - Lady Elsie - Tornado Force
8. Race: Sweet Origin - Layla`S Dancer - Hallstatt