5 flat meetings today

5 flat meetings today, 3 of them on the all-weather, with some surprisingly small fields. Lingfield this afternoon and Kempton and Dundalk (Ireland) this evening offer little of punting interest and we shall stick to the turf racing at Nottingham and Catterick, both of which stage their first flat racing of the year.
Nottingham is a very fair track much favoured by Newmarket trainers, and we expect some Newmarket-trained winners today. Luca Cumani usually starts the season very slowly, but the well-bred Elhaame (Kieren Fallon) should win the opening 3yo maiden at 15.10 CET; debutant Magic Lando (Ismail Mohammed/ Joe Fanning), by the top German stallion, could be the main danger. Fils Anges (Michael Bell/ Hayley Turner) can take the 3yo handicap over 5 furlongs half an hourt later. He won over thid CD last autumn and made a good seasonal debjut at Yarmouth. He has top weight, as does Ed Dunlop´s filly Singersongwriter (Ryan Moore) over a mile at 17.40; sher won her only start last season in promising style and is expected to go on to better things.
Spirit Quartz (Robert Cowell/ Harry Bentley) looks a good thing to take the 5 furlongs conditions race at 16.10; he is fit from Meydan and his second place in the Nunthorpe last year (Humidor fourth) is clearly the best form in the field. The main feature here is the listed race over 1 3/4 miles at 16.40 with runners from all over the country. Sir Graham Wade (Mark Johnston/ Joe Fanning), who won 5 races last year including a listed event on heavy ground in France, is the favourite here, but has nothing in hand of Cavaleiro (Marcus Tregoning/ Turner). Ed Dunlop saddles the mare Testosterone (Moore), who was a bit disappointing last season but has an obvious chance on 2011 form, when she won 2 group races in France. Two trainers better known for their N.H. exploits have runners - Alan King with Handazan (Tom Queally) and Nicky Henderson with Earth Amber (Andrea Atzeni), who was last seen last August at Deauville where he was runner-up to subsequent Group One winner Les Beaufs - also a listed winner in France yesterday. This is a very tricky race with most of the runners clearly having other and better targets in mind later on; if forced to have a bet we would take Handazan each way.
We like oldtimers and our other each way selection at Nottingham is 9yo Extraterrestrial (Richard Fahey/ Barry McHugh) at 17.10, while at Catterick we fancy the 10yo Patavium (Edwein Tuer/ James Sullivan), a course specialist who has won here on the flat and over hurdles, in the 1 1/2 mile handicap at 17.50. He was 4th in this race last year, but meets the then runner-up Arizona John (Jim Mackie/ Graham Gibbons) on slightly better terms and is fit from hurdling. Other oldtimers worth a second look here are 11yo Beckermet (Ruth Carr/ Sullivan) in the claimer at 15.50 and 9yo Wicked Wilma (Alan Berry/ Jordan Hibbert) in the 5 furlongs apprentice handicap at 18.50.

Betting forecast Lingfield:
1. Race: Teth - Crucis Abbey - Archelao
2. Race: The Noble Ord - The Which Doctor - Qeethaara
3. Race: Dark Lane - Commanche - Fairy Wing
4. Race: Intrigo - King Bertie - Barbs Princess
5. Race: Melvin The Grate - Intimidate - A Ladies Man
6. Race: Another Cocktail - Divergence - Could Be
7. Race: Yojojo - Refreshestheparts - Dundrum Dancer
8. Race: If I Were A Boy - Push Me - Cape Joy