Catterick and Dundalk

With Chepstow abandoned, Catterick offers the only N.H. racing today, while there are 3 all-weather meetings - Lingfield this afternoon, and Wolverhampton and Dundalk (Ireland) this evening. The two British tracks have the usual rubbish (with all due respect), but there are a couple of interesting runners in Ireland. Top bumper horse Pique Sous (Willie Mullins/ Paul Townend) makes his debut in a proper flat race in the 2 mile maiden at 19.50 CET; he has not run since easily winning a maiden hurdle at Thurles in October, missing the winter because he does not act on heavy ground, but is apparently being aimed at the Cheltenham Festival. Later on, champion trainer Aidan O´Brien saddles his first runners of 2013, Ahimsa at 2.150 and Fairylike at 22.20. Both are among the lesser lights in the stable, both are owned by his wife Anne-Marie and will be ridden by their children Joseph and Anastasia respectively. We would not dream of betting on any of these horses but their running s hould be carefully monitored with an eye to future developments.

The Catterick card is very modest and is mainly notable for the fact that AP McCoy makes a rare visit to the Yorkshire track. Tell Me Y, at 15.45, Get Back in Line at 16.20 and Kandari at 16.55 are all trained by Jonjo O´Neill and could all win, although get Back in Line, a good runner-up to stable companion Mr. Watson (easy winner at Cheltenham on Saturday) at Plumpton on his debut, probably has ther best chance.

We are not recommending a big bet, but the horse we would most like to see victorious today is Dvinsky (Paul Howling/ Jimmy Quinn) in the 6 furlongs handicap at 15.00 at Lingfield. The 12yo is running for the 224 th time and has 19 wins and 67 places to his credit, almost all on the all-weather including this CD. He is on his lowest ever rating and, while not as fast as he used to be, perfectly capable of running well at this level.

Catterick - betting forecast:
1. Race: Akarshan - Minella Theatre - Amir Pasha
2. Race: Hidden Justice - Trend Is My Friend - Deepsand
3. Race: Marie Des Anges - Highrate - Bridlingtonbygones
4. Race: Everaard - My Arch - Green Wizard
5. Race: Get Back In Line - Special Catch - Morning Royalty
6. Race: Kandari - Ros Castle - Alpha One
7. Race: Midnight Minx - Flemens Pride - Bypass