Cheltenham´s International Meeting

there has been a lot of rain in many parts of the U.K. and the going will be much softer than forecast; this also results in some non-runners, especially at Bangor and Doncaster where there are some very small fields as a result.

However the going for the first day of Chelternham´s International Meeting remains good to soft and this is far and away the best card of the day, even though by Cheltenham standards nothing really special. Main event is the Grade Three handicap chase over 3 1/ 4 miles at 15.10 CET. Hadrian´s Approach (Nicky Henderson/ Barry Geraghty) has top weight here, but he has not run since winning the big April chase at Sandown and we cannot imagine his winning here. The two 11yo´s in the field look dangerous, especilly Charingworth (Kim Bailey/ HAA Bannister), who won here last time and goes really well for this jockey. Pigeon Island was third here last year and is now on an attractive weight, while Standing Ovation (David PIpe/ Tom Scudamore) and Cowards Close (Paul Nicholls/ Sam Twiston-Davies) both look capable of winning a big race off their current rating.

The cross country chase half an hour later sees numerous CD specialists in the line-up, including the 2,3,4 from thisd race last year as well as several who ran in the cross country at the Festival in March. It looks really tricky, but we suspect that the two Irish traiders, Big Shu (Peter Maher/ Paul Carberry) and Uncle Junior (Willie Mullins) will find it tough with their big weight, and our 3 against the field are Duke of Lucca (Phjilip Hobbs/ Richard Johnson), Carruthers (Mark Bradstock/ Nico de Boinville) - especially if any more rain falls- and French challenger Pasquini Rouge.

Hobbs and Johnson are still in tremendous form and have another good chance in the handicap hurdle at 16.16 with the admirably tough German-bred Big Easy, although he is not so well handicapped now, while we also like Nico de Boinville´s chances in the handicap hurdle at 14.40 with Starluck, who is down in grade here. Best bet of the day could be Kings Palace (Pipe/ Scu) in the opening novice chase at 13.30, who was most impressive here on his chasing debut last month; he has to give weight to some useful prospects, but he think that he could be a real star.

Betting forecast:
1. Race: Sausalito Sunrise - Vivaldi Collonges - Return Spring
2. Race: Gallery Exhibition - Al Alfa - Hollow Blue Sky
3. Race: Lough Kent - Street Entertainer - Vintage Vinnie
4. Race: Hadrian`s Approach - Charingworth - Samstown
5. Race: Big Shu - Uncle Junior - Any Currency
6. Race: Big Easy - Ulzana`s Raid - Guiding George
7. Race: Some Plan - Padge - Clondaw Banker

Mainly handicaps

Another poor day´s sport today, with mainly low grade handicaps at the 3 afternoon N.H. meetings, the best of which is Warwick, where 2 runners with a German background have caught our eye. Chatez (Alan King/ Aidan Coleman) was a decent handicapper on the flat and won his first race over hurdles well enough; he should be able to concede weight all round in the 3yo hurdle at 13.30 CET - his dam is from one of Baron Ullmann´s best families. An hour later Attimo (Charlie Mann/ Noel Fehily) runs in the handicap chase over 2 1/2 miles; he has nowhere near the ability of his half-brother Altano, but would not need to in order to run well in this company.

The runner with the best German pedigree running today is Seventh Sky (Charlie Mann/ Gavin Sheehan) who goes for a similar race at Taunton at 15.10; he is a half-brother to German Derby winner Samum and Schiaparelli from the most successful Germany of recent years. However his record over jumps is patchy and although he has some talent, we fear that the very soft ground (the weather is bad all over the U.K. at present) will be against him. Our best bet at this meeting is Unforgettable (Peter Bowen/ Richard Johnson) at 16.10; the old boy is on a long losing run, but has come down the weights and is now very well handicapped, and this looks a weak race.

At Newcastle there is a huge field for the handicap hurdle at 15.10, but this is clearly a case of quantity rater than quality, as most of them are out of form; one exception is Jukebox Melody (John Wade/ Keith Renwick), who has been put up 7 lbs for winning at Sedgefield last time, but could possibly still score again.

valuable race at Kempton this evening

easily the best race of the day, and the most valuable, is the 1 mile 3 furlongs handicap at 19.20 CET this evening at Kempton, which is worth more than most German group races. This is the final race of a long qualifying series, which means that most of these runners have met before and most of them are CD winners, which does not make it any easier to find the winner. A low draw is a big advantage here, so we shall try to make things simpler by eliminating all runners drawn 10 or higher - which includes last year´s winner I´m Fraam Govan, owned by Sir Alex Ferguson, and the two Godolphin runners, Solidarity and Anglophile. All-weather specialist Grendisar (Marco Botti/ Martin Harley) has to come on the short list; he has top-weight here but has an excellent record at this track and won a listed race here in the autumn with Rydan (Robert Mills/ Tom Queally) a close third. Bancnuanaheireann was a narrow winner here last week, but is held on earlier CD form by Rebellious Guest (George Margarson/ Martin Lane), who does not run often on the all-weather, but when he does, usually runs a strong race. Double Discount (Tom Dascombe/ Jim Crowley) was runner-up to Solidarity last time and not only meets him on better terms now, but is much better drawn. This is a really tricky race, but we hope that one of the above-mentioned wins.

The two jumps cards this afternoon are very weak, with small fields in almost every race, and the conditions at Hexham will be most unpleasant, with heavy ground and gale force winds. One who seems to enjoy these conditions is course specialist Samson Collonges (Rebecca Menzies/ Henry Brooke) in the handicap chase at 15.50, who runs his best races here when the mud is flying.

The best race at Leicester is the concluding handicap hurdle at 16.10 in which there are two ex-German runners, Dawn Twister (Lucy Wadham/ Leighton Aspell) and Cafe au Lait (Tony Middleton/ Sean Quinlkan). The latter was runner-up in the Austrian Derby for Christian von der Recke, while the former was a listed winner at Baden-Baden for Jens Hirschberger. Dawn Twister has not really lived up to expectations over hurdles, and is coming off a long break, but he runs well fresh and we shall give him another chance.

Betting forecast:
1. Race: Spinning Cobblers - Copper Cavalier - Seven Lucky Seven
2. Race: China Club - Waaleef - Mecado
3. Race: Kyrenia Castle - Percella - Born To Be Bad
4. Race: Mr Singh - Stay Strong - Assagher
5. Race: Sighora - Squire - My Red Devil
6. Race: Grendisar - Solidarity - Rydan
7. Race: Ridgeway Storm - Snowy Dawn - Charlie Wells