Plumpton, Towcester and Wolverhampton

very poor racing at today´s 3 British meetings and also some very small fields, especially at the all-weather meeting at Wolverhampton where only 3 have been declared for the "best" race of the day, a 3yo handicap over 6 furlongs at 17.50 CET. Joe le Taxi (Mark Johnston/ Greg Fairley) has won 3 of his 4 starts in 2011, including this CD, and looks hard to beat. The danger is obviously Tom Sawyer (Julie Camacho/ Paul Hanagan), who ran in good company last season when trained by Aidan O´Brien. However he has been off since the York August meeting and we cannot imagine he can give 15 lbs to Joe le Taxi. Certainty of the day is Hamdan al Maktoum´s Wiqaala (Ed Dunlop/ Richard Hills) in the 7 furlongs maiden at 15.50; as a 3yo filly she gets all the allowances and when last seen was a neck runner-up at Newbury in September against much better opposition; however her price is likely to reflect this.

Trainer Alan King and his stable jockey Choc Thornton look the team to follow at Towcester. They have 3 runners and all of them have a winning chance- Araldur in the novice hurdle at 16.30, Lidar, who has top-weight in the handicap hurdle an hour later, and No Substitute in the bumper another hour later. German-bred Guarino (Gary and Josh Moore) is an interesting runner in the handicap hurdle which opens the card at 15.30. The Acatenango gelding has been unplaced on all his British starts, but now starts handicapping off a very lenient mark.

The racing at Plumpton today is best forgotten- it is extremely short on both quality and quantity. Mick Channon rarely sends runners over jumps, but Leitzu (Will Kennedy), who runs in his own colours, should win the opening maiden hurdle at 15.10, while the novice handicap chase half an hour later could go to King of Leon (Emma Lavelle/ Jack Doyle), now back in distance. Alan King should also have a winner here, courtesy of Shrewd Investment (Charlie Huxley) in the conditional jockeys handicap hurdle at 17.10; the inconsistent Lemon Silk (Andrew Hales/ Peter Carberry) is the danger.