Two poor meetings today

A typical Monday with only two poor meetings. Best bet at Carlisle should be Crowning Jewel (Keith and James Reveley) in the opening novice hurdle at 15.00 CET. After winning a bumper easily here in November, he has been placed in both his starts over sticks, with his most recent form at Catterick reading very well. He can make the most of the 7 lbs he receives from the two previous winners.

The handicap chase over 3 1/4 miles at 16.40 is the best betting race here. 14yo Victory Gunner (Richard Lee/ Jake Greenall) is an inspiration to all veterans and has won 4 of his last 6 races; we would love to see him score again but at these weights prefer the course winners Do It for Dalkey (Lucinda Russell/ Peter Buchanan) and Beamazed (Malcolm Jefferson/ Denis O´Regan). The much-improved Diamond d´Amour (G. Bewley/ Paddy Brennan) should be able to defy top weight in the handicap hurdle at 17.45, but value-seekers could possibly see course specialist Open de l´Isle (James Ewart/ Brian Hughes) as an each-way alternative.

The card for Wolverhampton´s all-weather meeting is even worse, but it is interesting to see some top jockeys in action. Jamie Spencer is here, primarily to ride Michael Bell´s Strong Vigilance in the 9 1/2 furlongs handicap at 17.25. His recent perfomances have been disastrous but Strong Vigilance´s only two career wins were a year ago over this CD, including this CD, and he is now on a tempting weight. One time German classic winner Aviso (David Evans/ Matthew Cosham) and Warden Bond (Wilf Stone/ Martin Lane), going for a CD hat-trick, look the main dangers. The 5 furlongs handicap for 3yo´s at 18.00 is quite open, although Al Freej (Roger Varian/ Dominic Fox) will probably start a warm favourite after his easy maiden win over this CD 11 days ago. However we do not why the handicapper has rated him so much higher than Cats Eyes (Robert Cowell/ Shane Kelly) and the latter may be the better bet.