All-weather racing at Southwell and Wolverhampton

All-weather action this afternoon at Southwell and this evening at Wolverhampton, and once again Mark Johnston and Joe Fanning look the team to follow. It would come as no surprise were they to land a double at both meetings. Cloudy City, over a mile at 15.10 CET, and Love Delta over 5 furlongs an hour later, both have to shoulder top-weight in 3yo handicaps, but should be up to the task. Love Delta is unbeaten in 3 starts this year (all at 6 furlongs) and looks a smart prospect. Another hoping to land a four-timer here is Spruce (Julia Feilden/ Jimmy Quinn) in the 1 1/2 mile handicap at 17.10. There are only 6 runners here, but it is still a tricky race and Spruce will have to be at the top of his game to win this.

Perpetually at 19.20 and Demonstrative an hour later are the two Johnston/ Fanning hopes at Wolverhampton.The former is in fact unbeaten, having run once in July 2008 and once in April 2009, and winning both times. No doubt there is a reason for these long breaks between races, but they do not seem to have done him any harm. Best bet on the all-weather today should be Binthere Dunthat (Michael Bell/ Hayley Turner) in the fillies maiden at 20.50. She has been runner-up on both her starts so far, including a photo-finish defeat this CD last time, and should lose her maiden tag this evening.

N.H. racing at Ludlow and Taunton

Winners will be hard to find today at Ludlow, where there are some quite large fields and most races look very competitive. We hope to see Guydus (Venetia Williams/ Aidan Coleman) run well after his easy last-time-out victory in the novice handicap hurdle at 16.30 CET, and the same team have a chance with Quartz de Thaix in the novice chase half an hour earlier. Main event here is the Forbra Gold Cup, a handicap chase over 3 miles at 17.00.

Kilcrea Asia (Tom George/ Sam Thomas) won this last year and after some below par performamces is back on the same handicap mark. Carrickmines (Dr. Newland/ Andrew Glassonbury) is moving up in grade and facing much tougher opposition than when winning last time over this CD, but could still play a leading role with his very light weight.

It all looks much easier at Taunton, where the rule over the years is to back everything saddled by Paul Nicholls, especially when Ruby Walsh is riding. They have three good chances today, with Earth Planet in the beginners chase at 15.20, Pistolet Noir in the novice hurdle at 16.50 and King´s Legacy who makes his hurdles debut and hour later. Philip Hobbs and Richard Johnson may have to play second fiddle to Pistolet Noir with Duke of Lucca, but should in any case take the novice hurdle at 15.50 with Voramar Two, who is penalised for an easy CD win but meets very feeble opponents today.

All-weather racing at Kempton and Wolverhampton

Today´s all-weather action comes from Wolverhampton in the afternoon and Kempton in the evening. At the former track, we hope to see Tomintoul Star (Ruth Carr/ Andrew Elliott), slightly unlucky last week, take the fillies maiden at 17.00 CET, but Mark Johnston´ s Floridita (Greg Fairley) looks a dangerous newcomer here; she is out of German classic winner Rose of Zollern. The 7 furlongs handicap at 17.10 is the best race here, and Smalljohn (Byan Smart/ Tom Eaves) can land a CD hat-trick at the main expense of Mel Brittain´s Steel Stockholder (Jimmy Quinn), also a CD winner last time out.

However the most interesting all-weather event is the mile handicap at 2.45 at Kempton. In an unusual move, Starluck (Alan Fleming/ Liam Keniry), a top-class hurdler who was narrowly beaten here when last seen by Go Native- favourite for the Champion Hurdle) finishes his Cheltenham preparation here. He has to give weight to some useful performers, but could be up to the task.