3 N.H. meetings today

3 N.H. meetings in the U.K. today, but to be frank, most of the racing on offer is instantly forgettable. The best horse running today is Australia Day (Paul Webber/ Denis O´Regan), who has only 3 opponents in the novice chase at 15.50 CET at Huntingdon. He was a smart hurdler and has already got off the mark in good style over fences.

Megastar (Gary and Jamie Moore), can follow him home; he was third of 3 at Ascot last time, but that was quite a hot race. Also of interest at Huntingdon is Cry of Freedom (John Ferguson/JM Quinlan), who makes his N.H. debut in the novice hurdle at 15.20; he has not run for almost 2 years, but Ferguson, Sheikh Mohammed´s bloodstock adviser, is doing extremely well with his team of hurdlers, mainly Maktoum castoffs, and if he has brought Cry of Freedom back to the smart form he showed at 2, can have another winner now. Ex-German Sommersturm (Barney Curley/ O´Regan) runs in the opening handicap hurdle here at 14.20. He has been out of the money in all 18 starts in the U.K. but certainly has the ability to win this off his present rating.

The main feature at Sedgefield is the novices handicap chase at 15.00. Bhaltair (Donald McCain/ John Kington) is out of the handicap here, but has been very consistent and can beat his mainly our-of-form opponents. Ferdy Murphy has 3 runners in the novice hurdle at 14.30, but the stable has not yet hit form, and we expect Hawk Mountain (John Quinn/ Dougie Costello), a useful flat handicapper, to win on his jumping debut.