3 poor meetings today

Tuesday is usually a poor day for U.K. racing and today is no exception. N.H. racing at Exeter and Wetherby and all-weather flat racing at Southwell, but all at a very low level and there are some small fields as well. There will be some interest in the 1 1/2 mile seller at 17.00 CET at Southwell where Stand Guard (John Butler/ Tom Queally) bids to extend his winning run. He set a new all-weather record last time by winning his 26th race on the all-wreather and can make it 27 today. he has won 13 of his last 15 starts, many of them over this CD., and although they have mainly been in very poor races, so is this today and his only serious opponent is Mr. Burbidge (Neil Mulholland/ Liam Keniry).He won over this CD in January and has twice been unplaced in better races since; he is actually higher-rated than Stand Guard, but when push comes to shove, we expect the older horse to hold the advantage.

The best jumps race is the 3 mile handicap chase at 17.10 at Exeter, which looks very open with several of the runners coming off a winter break. On Trend (Nick Gifford/ Tom Cannon) is on a long losing run but has come down a lot in the weights and now sports first-time blinkers. Perhaps they will help him recover his best form. Saints and Sinners (Mick Easterby/ Jake Greenall) is another one that has not won for ages; her has never run beyond 2 1/2 miles but runs as if he could stay further and now tries an extended 3 miles at 17.55 at Wetherby.