4 poor meetings today

A normal Tuesday with poor flat racing from Ayr this afternoon and Kempton (a.w.) this evening and jumps racing from Chepstow and Sedgefield. Most of the races at Ayr are over sprint distances and easily the best event is the 5 furlongs handicap at 18.30 CET. This looks wide open with several trainers doubly represented; one of them is Dandy Nicholls, the former sprint king who has however had a disappointing season.

His runners are Tax Free, with his son Adrian in the saddle, and Fitz Flyer (Jordan Nason) and they will both be suited by the drying ground. Equitania (Alan Bailey/ Robert EWinston) is the only 3yo in the field and we expect him to run well as well after his win at Newmarket last time.Go Go Green, one of two Jim Goldie runners, ran well at the big meeting here the week before last and also comes on to the short list under his light weight and with a good claimer aboard.. There are plenty of possibilities here but we shall go for oldtimer Tax Free (e.w.). He is not as sharp as he used to be, but he is certainly capable of mixing it at this level.

The all-weather card at Kempton this evening is also weak, but it may pay to follow the Godolphin runners, who usually do well here. 3 of the 7 runners in the 11 furlongs handicap at 21.20 are owned by Godolphin; they should all run well but we give slight preference to Anomaly (Charlie Appleby/ Mickael Barzalona). A clear indication that autumn is coming is given by the fact that Chepstow is staging its first N.H. meeting of the year. Paul Nicholls has a couple of runners here and will be especially interested in Southfield Vic in the bumper at 18.20, a first public ride for his 16-year-old daughter Megan. Tony McCoy is rather more experienced and we expect him to land a double with Dr. Richard Newland´s Bombadero at 16.05 and Jonjo O´Neill´s Full of Joy at 16.40.

The Sedgefield card is also very poor and the fields are small as well. Our main fancy here is Bright Abbey (Dianne Sayer/ Lucy Alexander) in the novice hurdle at 15.50, who has been placed six times running but also knows how to win.