A chance for the Challow

Rather spoilt for choice tomorrow with the Welsh National at Chepstow, the Lexus at Leopardstown and the Challow at Newbury.

The world and his wife have put up Well Refreshed for the Welsh National after his eye-catching trial in Sandown's London National three weeks ago. Allocated to carry just 10-2, and with Josh Moore able to claim a further three pounds, Gary Moore's gelding will certainly relish underfoot conditions but his jumping can be haphazard - I still recall the manner in which he practically ran through the final fence of Haydock's Grand National Trial on similar ground in February. I'm not tempted.

Gold cup winner Bobs Worth is on a retrieval mission in the Lexus after a below-par effort in the Betfair Chase last month. Connections don't sound overly confident and Henderson's horses are struggling at the moment - box office draw Sprinter Sacre was pulled up and diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat at Kempton earlier today while Grandouet was turned over at odds of 1/2 in the Wayward Lad Novices' Chase. Willie Mullins' Sir Des Champs blotted his copy book when falling last time but he's still my idea of the winner - Walsh rides Rubi Ball who could be anything.

Only six in the Challow but it's decidedly tricky. Likely favourite Oscar Rock has won a listed bumper at the track while Timesremembered failed to give seven pounds to Creepy the last day at Cheltenham. On a literal interpretation of that form Creepy has it to do to confirm the placings and the market prices on offer suggest bookmakers concur. To my mind Creepy has improvement to come but to date he has shown his best form on better ground so I'm going to stick with Emma Lavelle's Timesremembered  (7/2 generally) who is the best horse in the race on official ratings. Those same ratings also indicate that Kaki De La Pree is in there with a shout...

Lexus Chase

Having watched a recording of Kauto Star's superb victory in the King George, I've just been forced into watching six consecutive episodes of The Munsters - from the sublime to the ridiculous - it's been that sort of Christmas. I haven't had the time to turn round, never mind look at Chepstow's Welsh National card.

Tomorrow's Lexus Chase at Leopardstown looks intriguing. On Racing Post ratings Denman is the clear top rated animal, yet at 4/9 his price is much shorter than Kauto's at Kempton on Boxing Day. Described as a 'brute of a horse' by several commentators, Denman looks to have the one way of running and bludgeons his rivals into submission, as he did in the Hennessy. The second in that race, Dream Alliance, knocked the form a little when pulling up in the Welsh National earlier today. Course and distance winner The Listener has it to do here but offers tempting value at 4/1, while it's not beyond the realms of possibility for State of Play to find improvement. In my book Denman is less of a certainty than Kauto in the King George, yet his price is shorter; I'll take a chance on The Listener at odds of 4/1 or bigger.

The TurfTV issue has rumbled on in the background over the past few months. The stakes will be raised considerably from Janaury 1st when live pictures from thirty one racecourses will only be available in betting shops which have subscribed to the service. Coral's have recently announced they intend to take the product; this will give them a significant commercial advantage over High Street rivals Hill's and Ladbrokes. In this day and age, are punters prepared to put up with audio commentaries after placing a bet in a shop?

Racing notes

In the days following the embarrassing collapse of the race-fixing trial, the City of London Police and the British Horseracing Authority have been scrambling, in a somewhat unseemly fashion, to distance themselves from any ensuing blame. In addition, screeds have been written following the breaking of the news that Fallon failed a drug test in the summer; an interesting perspective was given by Stephen Pollard in The Times' Thunderer column on Monday.

Cheltenham's card this Saturday is starting to look rather attractive, with a fair number of equine stars intending to take up their engagements.

Looking a little further ahead, The Lexus Chase, which is set to be run at Leopardstown on Friday December 28th, could see Denman and The Listener taking each other on. In this week's edition of The Weekender, Nick Mordin puts forward a persuasive case for The Listener who appears well ahead of his rival on Nick's timings.

Evan Williams' yard is under a cloud at the moment but his Enlightenment is worth a second look in the Turftv Novices' Chase at Ludlow tomorrow.