5 meetings today

very little of importance at today´s 5 meetings. Our old friend the 11-yr-old Cape Royal (Milton Bradley/ Sean Levey) did us a favour by winning at Nottingham two weeks ago and reappears over the same CD in the 5 furlongs hadicap at 14.30 CET; but he has gone up 5 lbs and faces a stiffer task this time. A more interesting bet here could be Just Bond (Geoff Oldroyd/Dale Swift), who has top weight in the mile handicap at 16.40; he has been running in better grade events. Godolphin have runners all over at present and can score hre with Kahraba (Saeed bin Duroor/ Silvestre de Sousa) in the 3yo maiden at 17.15.
German-bred Los Nadis (Jim Goldie/ Lee Newman) is another old friend, and has been in good form over hurdles recently. He returns to the flat in the 2 mile handicap at 16.50 at Musselburgh and has a clear each-way chance; the ones to beat are Lexington Bay (Richard Fahey/ Paul Hanagan) and Jeu de Vivre (Mark Johnston/ Joe Fanning).
Star of a poor card this evening at Kempton could be another Godolphin maiden , the 2yo Circus Mondao at 20.05; he is Frankie Dettori´s only ride of the day.
There is also N.H. racing at Haydock and Punchestown in Ireland. At the former track, the novice hurdle at 16.25 features a clash between Perpetually (John Ferguson/ Paul Moloney) and Pippa Greene (Nicky Henderson/ Andrew Tinkler). Ferguson, better known as Sheikh Mohammed´s bloodstock advisor, has been doing well with his small string of jumpers and Perpetually made a good impression when winning at Huntingdon, while Pippa Greene (despite the name, a gelding) has finished runner-up on all 3 hurdles start so far. He was the better performer on the flat and gets weight today, so he is the selection.
Punchestown has survived an early morning inspection and the meeting goes ahead on very testing ground. Punters should tread warily here, but we think that Dessie Hughes could land a double with Stonemaster (Davy Russell) at 15.45 and the German-bred Ten Fires (Brian Hayes) at 16.20.

Betting forecast Nottingham:
1. Race: The Strig - Cape Royal - Tislaam
2. Race: Zefooha - Brasingaman Eric - Riviera Stars
3. Race: Loxton Lad - Emerald Smile - Jaci Uzzi
4. Race: Moidore - Cameron Highland - Autarch
5. Race: Nazreef - Ampleforth - Mahadee
6. Race: Kahraba - Shuhra - Bravestofthebrave
7. Race: Petsas Pleasure - My Mate Jake - Ice Nelly
8. Race: Market Puzzle - Talk Of Saafend - Baan