historic races at Carlisle

Carlisle stages its best racing of the year today. and the Carlisle Bell and the Cumberland Plate are two of the oldest historic races in Britain. They are now only class 4 handicaps, but quite valuable, and today´s fields, over a mile at 17.05 CET and over just short of 1 1/2 miles half an hour later respectively, look very competitive. Silvery Moon (Tim Easterby/ Robert Winston) was only narrowly beaten in the Bell last year and now reappears under top-weight. He is not the most consistent, but ran well in a similar race at York last time and has probably been specially trained for today´s race. He goes on the short list, together with Pacific Heights (Brian Ellison/ Paul Pickard), a very easy winner of the trial over this CD but now 10 lbs higher, and Restaurateur (Andrew Balding/ Joe Fanning), who has made a long journey to run here. Brian Ellison launches quite a strong attack here, and apart from his 3 runners in the Bell, he has 4 in the Plate. We are quite tempted by Spanish Duke (Dale Swift), who looks very well handicapped on his old form for John Dunlop, although his recent form is poor. Another ex-Dunlop runner, Aazif (Donald McCain/ Graham Lee) could be the main danger; this is the first time he has run on the flat for his new trainer, but he has been in good form over hurdles.

Salisbury also has a historic race on the card, the Bibury Cup, now a 4yo handicap over 1 1/2 miles at 17.25. This has quite a disappointing turnout, and while Ennistown (Saeed bin Suroor/ Mickael Barzalona) has the best form, he has an awful lot of weight; we just prefer bottom-weight Snowy Dawn (Tony Hollinshead/ Jimmy Quinn). The mile handicap here at 16.50 is possibly a better race, but looks very tricky. Lord of the Shadows (Richard Hannon/ Richard Hughes) has a poor strike rate, but could still win this off a reasonable mark.

The best race run today in Britain and Ireland is the listed race for 3yo filllies at 20.30 this evening at Naas, a Trial for the Irish Oaks. As always, Aidan O´Brien has a strong hand here,. and we expect Moth, 4th last time in the Oaks at Epsom and ridden by the trainer´s son Joseph, to win here from his stable companion. the once-raced Venus de Milo (Seamus Heffernan).

Carlisle - betting forecast:
1. Race: Searchlight - Disclosure - Atheera
2. Race: Emily Davison - Stoney Quine - Simply Black
3. Race: Avon Breeze - Ashpan Sam - Another Wise Kid
4. Race: Bartack - Hakuna Matata - Day Of The Eagle
5. Race: Pacific Heights - Restaurateur - Springheel Jake
6. Race: Cousin Khee - Aazif - Warlu Way
7. Race: Alluring Star - Elle Woods - Shesastar