Fontwell and Uttoxeter

we shall ignore today´s all-weather meeting at Southwell, where all races are class 5 or 6 and are best left alone, and concentrate on the two N.H. cards at Fontwell and Uttoxeter. Fontwell has survived an early morning inspection because of frost., but clearly the going will be very soft at both meetings. The best horse running today is probably Cloudy Copper (Jonjo O´Neill/ Tony McCoy), who runs in the novice chase at Uttoxeter at 13.50 CET. He looked very promising when winning both his U.K. hurdles starts very easily two years ago but has not been seen since. If anywhere that form now he should win his first chase, although the mares Rattlin (Sue Smith/ Jonathan England) and especially Top Totti (Henry Daly/ Jake Greenall) have both shown good form over fences and will expose any weaknesses. McCoy has another good chance on Marie King´s top-weight Dormouse in the handicap hurdle half an hour later, who has only been put up 3 lbs for an easy win at Lingfield last time; however ex-German Lochnagar (Venetia Williams/ Aidan Coleman) must have good prospects in this weak company, although he would not the going to get too heavy.

The staying handicap chase at 15.10 at Fontwell is an interesting event, despite having only 5 runners, but should lie between top-weight Theratrical Star (Colin Tizzard/ Brendan Powell), who ran well enough over hurdles at Cheltenham last time but is more at home in this metier. and Global Power (Oliver Sherwood/ Leighton Aspell), runner-up in a good field at Carlisle last time after a year off the track. Both stay well, come from stables in top form and are unbeaten here. Two runners here with German pedigrees that could run well at a big price are Liberty Red at 13.40 and Cabimas half an hour later.

Betting forecast:
1. Race: Beacon Lady - Abigail Lynch - Bantam
2. Race: Cloudy Copper - Top Totti - Rattlin
3. Race: Wordy`S Boy - Dormouse - Lochnagar
4. Race: Bjornlucky - Uranium - Keel Haul
5. Race: Storm Of Swords - Rosa Fleet - Filatore
6. Race: Positive Vibes - L Frank Baum - First Of Never
7. Race: Champagne Chaser - Redkalani - Flabello

Mainly Handicaps

Today´s 3 meetings in the U.K. - two on the all-weather at Kempton and Lingfield, and over jumps at Musselburgh- consist mainly of handicaps, and mainly low grade ones at that.

However it is a non-handicap that has the best thing of the day in our opinion- the opening maiden hurdle at 13.45 CET at Musselburgh. John Ferguson has his hurdlers in top form and now saddles Arabic History (Tony McCoy), who runs for the first time over sticks after finishing 1/2 on his 4 bumper starts, some in top company. Assuming he jumps well- which can almost be taken for granted with this team- he looks very hard to beat here. Another runner here who has been first or second on all his starts so far is Desoto County (Donald McCain/ Jason Maguire) in the handicap hurdle at 15.20. However he is coming off a break and with the stable still not firing on all fronts, we would raher wait and see; AP rides Lucky Cody here for Brian Ellison, but he seems very high in the weights for what he has actually achieved, and we prefer stable companion Yesyoucan (Danny Cook) who has been running against better opposition and could be well treated here. Course specialist Titus Bolt (Jim Goldie/Ryan Day) is one of many dangers in the trickiest race of the day.

The two divisions of the 6 furlongs handicap at Kempton will not take much winning and our selections are Zwan Awal (James fanshawe/ Tom Queally) at 17.10 and half an hour later last week´sd CD winner Stellarta (Michael Blanshard/ Steve Drowne) although in the latter race we also respect oldtimer Palace Moon (William Knight/ Jim Crowley), who is on a long losing run but is very well handicapped on his old form.

At Lingfield the mile handicap at 16.00 is thr best betting race, and we expect the two 3yo top-weights Razor Wind (Charlie Appleby/ Shane Gray) and Semaral (Chris Wall/ Martin Lane) to fight out the finish. Both won last time out and look likely improvers.

Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon

There is better than usual jumps racing in the U.K. as well, where the Grade Two Peterborough Chase at 15.05 CET at Huntingdon is the main event. This is Huntíngdon´s top card of the season, but whether it is a good Idea to switch it from the usual midweek slot to a Sunday remains to be seen. Eduard (Nicky Richards/ Brian Harding) is the likely favourite and his latest second place to Many Clouds has been well boosted since. However we are not totally convinced, Wishfull Thinking (Philip Hobbs/ Richard Johnson) and Wonderful Charm (Paul Nicholls/ Sam Twiston-Davies) both look very dangerous, while Nicky Henderson - who has easily the best record at this track - saddles two runners French Opera (Barry Geraghty) and Rajdhani Express (Sam Waley-Cohen). The latter´s jockey showed again yesterday that he is as good as the pros and we think he could be the value here.

There is also a good card at Kelso and the Scottish Borders National over 4 miles at 14.50 looks very tricky. Scotswell (Heather Graham/ James Reveley) is our choice here; he is inconsistent but was runner-up in this last year and now looks very well handicapped. The valuable handicap chase over a mile shorter at 15.20 also has a competitive look, but for us Shotavodka (David PIpe/ Tom Scudamore) stands out; he has to concede lumps of weight all round, but has by far the best form in the field. We also like Bogside (George Charlton/ Lucy Alexander) in the 2 mile handicap hurdle at 14.20; this CD specialist has only run once since winning this last year, but a repeat of that form would probably be good enough.