Haydock and Warwick

Only two meetings this afternoon and some very small fields - in fact there are only 4 races with more than 7 runners. Despite that, there is some very competitive racing, especially at Haydock. In the handicap hurdle at 15.40 CET the 4 runners include Seymour Eroic (Martin keighley/ Ian Popham), raised 5O lbs after winning his last 4 races, and Thunderstorm (Philip Hobbs/ Tony McCoy), up 38 lbs after winning his last 5, and they have to give weight to the other two runners, who are also in good form. We just favour Thunderstorm, who looks to have more in the tank, but any of the 4 could win. The handivcap chasdse at 17.20 alsoloks very open with 7 runners. Top-weight Mr.Moonshine (Sue Smith/ Ryan Mania) has been running in some tzoiugh races and hads been dropped in the ratings, while Safran de Coztte (Henry Daly/ Jake Greenall) has gone up after winmning 3 of hois 5 sdtarts this season. Oiur preference is for Simply Wings (Richard Lee/ Michael Nolan), whose trainer is in g reat form: he is amazingly consistent and has not finished out of the first 4 in over 4 years! He had no chance with the easy winner at Exeter last time, but just got the better of a subsequent Cheltenham winner for second place, form which gives him a good chance here. The hurdle handicap at 16.45 is another tricky race. Top-weight Robbie (Keith and James Reveley) won 4 races in the second half of last year, 3 of them at Southwell, but has not run since mid-December. We prefer the two ex-French runners Rockawango (James Ewart/ Brian Hughes) and Softsong (Hobbs/ Richard Johnson); the latter had arguanbly the better form in France, but the former finished sixth of 19 in the Imperial Cup last time and a repetition of that performance would give him excellent prospects here.

Another ex-French runner is our main fancy at Warwick - Lone Ranger (Venetia Williams/ Aidan Coleman) in the maiden hurdle at 15.25. He was a good listed winner for Alain de Royer-Dupré at Deauville last summer and even ran in Group One races; he has not shown a great deal in his two British starts, but this could be the right trace for him.

Awbeg Massini (Tim Vaughan/ Michael Byrne) and Boss in Boots (Seamus Mullins/ Andrew Thornton) have both shown some ability, but are no stars and certainly would not be up to winning a Deauville listed race. The question mark here is Toughness Danon (Tony Middleton/ Charlie Poste), who was third in the German Derby in 2009. He has been a total disappointment since then and is clearly not one to be trusted, refusing to race on two occasions, but if he is in the mood is certainly capable of figuring here.