two more very poor cards

once again we have only two low level meetings today after Ffos Las was abandoned, this time because of flooding. With plenty of bad weather still expected this week, there are likely to be more abandonments in the next few days.
Fakenham satges the only jumps racing today anf there are some very small gfields. The most interesting event is the opening novice hurdle at 14.05 CET, which also has the largest and most competitive field of the day. Zip Top (John Ferguson/ AP McCoy) is the obvious place to start; he was regarded as a classic prospect in younger days and was runner-up in the Racing Post Trophy in 2011. Now a gelding, he made a decent debut over sticks last month at Kempton and his trainer has an excellent record with these ex-flat runners - and has an amazing strike rate when teaming up with McCoy. However there is some decent oppositiomn today., headed by ex-Germans Lanceur (Lucy Wadham/ Leighton Aspell) and Low Key (David Pipe/ Tom Scudamore), both of whom were also useful flat horses, as was Nicholascopernicus (Ed Walker/ Kieran Woods). Wadham does well at this track and has several fancied runners today, all partnered by Aspell, including another German-bred Aviador at 16.15; it will be disappointing if she goes home without at least one winner.
Best race on a poor all-weather card at Southwell is the 5 furlong handicap at 16.25. Sleepy Blue Ocean (John Balding/ Robert Winston) won this last year and came back to form when winning again over this CD last time out. He can obviously figure again, but our preference is for the consistent Scarborough for the in-form team of Milke Appleby and Luke Morris.The 6 furlongs maiden race for fillies at 15.50 is for 3yo´s and older horses, but in fact all 9 runners are 3yo´s; our choice is the well-bred Seychelloise (Sir Mark Prescott/ Morris), placed on her last 4 starts.

Betting forecast:
1. Race: Zip Top - Lanceur - Shwaiman
2. Race: So Oscar - Baku Bay - Royale Django
3. Race: Rendezvous Peak - Cappielow Park - Bajardo
4. Race: Johnnys Legacy - Midnight Charmer - Mount Vesuvius
5. Race: Vision Du Coeur - Imperial Vic - Drombeg West
6. Race: Trafalgar - Shinooki - Riddlestown