Easter presents?

Earlier today Viewpoint went into the history books as the first horse to win a race in this country on Good Friday; jockey Cam Hardie steered Richard Hannon's inmate to victory in the opener at Lingfield, in the process recording his first win for the handler.

There are fixtures aplenty on Easter Saturday but finding a wager that makes some appeal hasn't proved particularly easy.

This weekend I was hoping Nigel Twiston-Davies would let King's Tempest, withdrawn at Exeter earlier in the week, take his chance in Sunday's bumper at Towcester but the horse hasn't make the final declaration stage.

I saw this one, still an entire, win at Warwick last month after which the handler said:

'He's as big as any horse we've got and hopefully he's as good. We've been excited since day one with him and he's a lovely horse for the future. I'd love to say we'd go to Aintree with him but it's all about the future and we might look for a similar race as today before putting him away.'

The same yard saddles Blaklion in the concluding bumper at Haydock tomorrow. This point winner trounced his field at Ffos Las three weeks ago and rates a decent hurdles prospect. He won't have things all his own way with Donald McCain's Degooch an interesting opponent - I'm not tempted.

Earlier on the same Haydock card Twiston-Davies runs Red Rocco in the Tim Moloney Handicap Chase (3.50) over three and a half miles. On the face of it Red Rocco hasn't had the best of seasons but on his penultimate start he looked booked for second behind Rigadin De Beauchene in the Grand National Trial at this track before coming to grief at the final flight. Bennys Well is likely to make a bold bid from the front and Red Rocco is another who likes to race from the front; with just six in the field the front-runners could well set the race up for one from behind but Haydock suits those that sit handy. Tactics will be all-important but at the prices (9/2) I'll chance Red Rocco shows us some more of his improved form...

The going is good, good to firm in places at Newton Abbot where they're likely to go lickety-split in the two mile handicap chase at 3.55. Novice Sonofagun is the bookies' favourite on the back of two recent wins but he's taking on some smart rivals... Oiseau De Nuit, Changing The Guard and Shooters Wood were all unplaced in the Grand Annual at Cheltenham last month. The first-named finished four lengths second to the champion two-mile chaser Sire De Grugy in December while course and distance winner Changing The Guard is weighted to reverse placings with the favourite on their recent Ludlow meeting.

Identifying a vulnerable favourite is only half the battle and this looks a particularly trappy event but I'm swayed by winning course form at this tight track - Changing The Guard (7/2) gets the nod.

Racing bytes

Imperial Commander took the Betfair Chase in impressive fashion at Haydock yesterday. Coral has taken a stance betting 11/8 Kauto Star 13/2 Imperial Commander for the King George on Boxing Day; Long Run is generally available at 7/1. Earlier today Sam Twiston-Davies' burgeoning career took another giant step forward when Hello Bud collected the Becher Handicap Chase but, speaking personally, this weekend's stand-out performance was Silviniaco Conti's facile victory in the Coral Hurdle at Ascot; layers quote Paul Nicholls' four-year-old at 14s for the Champion Hurdle and 10s for the World Hurdle at Cheltenham next March.

Two older members of the training fraternity have been in the news over the past few days. On Thursday Reg Brown, 89, saddled Tiptronic to take Hereford's opening juvenile hurdle at odds of 100/1 (112.3/1 on the Tote) while Michael Banks, a mere youngster by comparison at the age of 70, was inclined to blame the ground for the defeat of the well-fancied Clerk's Choice in yesterday's four-year-old hurdle at Haydock.

Matt Crawley put in a superb round of riding at Musselburgh on Friday aboard Lastroseofsummer. In the course of the race the rider lost both irons and then the saddle slipped but the seven pound claimer kept the partnership intact to win the Scottish Mares' Maiden Hurdle at odds of 11/2. Pulling up proved slightly more difficult - the mare unceremoniously dumped the jock on the turf after they'd passed the winning post. Something of a lady's prerogative, I suppose...

Adapted from a piece in last Monday's Times which looked at family ties in racing... Niall "Boots" Madden could finish no better than fifth in the Grand National but son Niall "Slippers" Madden won the 2006 running of the great race aboard Numbersixvalverde. 12-year-old brother Tom "Socks" Madden is now cutting his teeth in pony races... [Socks and Teeth? What's all that about?]

Finally, I see Irish point winner Kilcrea Kim takes on seasoned handicappers in the Gwynne Price Handicap Hurdle at Ffos Las tomorrow. The novice beat Drill Sergeant eight lengths on his seasonal debut which looks decent enough form but the chestneut gelding is priced up 7/4 favourite in the tissue this evening which doesn't make much appeal at all.

Looking ahead

This is my favourite time of year - the leaves on the trees are changing colour, there's a nip in the early morning air and ever so slowly the National Hunt season is beginning to take shape. If anticipation is (more than) half the excitement of racing, then this is a time of excitement and anticipation. There was no jump racing last week but Perth holds its two-day meeting on Wedensday and Thursday (a meeting the Twiston-Davies stable regularly targets), Worcester race on Friday and then Market Rasen holds its two-day meeting over the forthcoming weekend. Of course, the big meeting on Saturday takes place at Ascot where the feature race will be the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes; a work colleague is going and has asked me for a few pointers - he really should know better. Last year I did promise myself I'd get to Ludlow's first jumps meeting (Thursday October 15th) but events have overtaken me and I don't think it's going to happen. As they say - the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Overheard comment from Mrs Tips while watching Joe Calzaghe and Kristina Rihanoff during last night's Strictly Come Dancing: 'It looks as though she is trying to dance with a wardrobe.' In my time I've turned a few heads on the disco dancefloors of the country for the completely wrong reasons, but even I could see what Mrs T. meant. Before Joe had set foot on the dancefloor, he was the bookmakers favourite for this year's title; Betfred are currently offering 33/1.

Finally Guinness celebrates its 250th birthday on Thursday 24th September; I shall partake of the odd pint (or two) - it would be downright rude not to!

Weekend round-up

Haydock fell to the weather but there was drama aplenty at Ascot with Twist Magic beaten soundly by Tamarinbleu. Paul Nicholls blamed the heavy ground while Teletext reported that jockey Ruby Walsh told the trainer after the race TM would win the Champion Chase on decent ground.

Tamarinbleu's performance reminded me somewhat of Lough Derg's front running exploits when taking the Long Walk Hurdle last month. A David Pipe trained outsider at Ascot, ridden from the front by Tom Scudamore, gallops his rivals into submission to secure a big prize - could this be the beginning of a trend?

I know many heathens don't understand horse racing's appeal but the graphic pictures the BBC transmitted, after the race, of Nigel Twiston-Davies urging Mahogany Blaze to the line spoke volumes. The horse was collared in the shadow of the post by Nick Gifford's Wee Robbie; Twiston-Davies, literally quivering, practically rode the finish himself. That's why we do it, for the sheer damn excitement of it all.

As has been widely reported, Tony McCoy is on the mend following an operation on his back earlier in the week. He remains confident he'll be riding at the Cheltenham Festival. I dare say he'll be aiming to return before then in order to build up his physical fitness.

The abandonment of Haydock meant there was no Scoop6 this weekend, but I'm sure it remains a mystery to many punters why, when racing is taking place on a Saturday, they can't have a Scoop6 bet.

The BBC's Ceefax racing service is suffering death by a thousand cuts. The Teletext service is now far more comprehensive, although I've found the RSS feed provided by the site flaky on occasions.

Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot

The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes run over a mile at Ascot this Saturday looks a thrilling prospect. Some of the value has been taken out of the market with the withdrawal of George Washington on Wednesday morning. There doesn't appear to be much between Darjina, Ramonti and Excellent Art. I'm inclined to oppose the filly Darjina on the following counts: only one filly has won this in the last thirty years; rain is forecast and this may inconvenience her; she is ante-post favourite and so the value lies elsewhere. Ramonti is tough and won over course and distance at Royal Ascot in June. He then went on to beat Excellent Art a fast diminishing head in The Sussex Stakes at Goodwood. After that race several commentators felt that Ramonti's getting first run had made the difference. Goodwood is tricky; with Ascot more likely to suit, I take Excellent Art to win the prize.

Those of us waiting eagerly for jump racing to swing into gear will see Saturday's card at Market Rasen as a sign of better things to come. Nigel Twiston Davies is regularly out of the blocks quickly around this time of year; he retuns this evening from Perth's two day fixture with a haul of five winners. If you fancy one of his over the next three to four weeks the yard's website may give a clue under the 'Todays Runners' section.

I'll try to look at the Market Rasen card tomorrow evening.

Stable talk

The Peter Bowen stable has had a decent summer and won the summer jumping championship. Unusually I had the foresight on this one...

http://pgstips.blogspot.com/2006/07/market-rasen-on-saturday.html

Fortunes at the Pipe stable have been in marked contrast. Figures in this week's Weekender indicate 32 runs and 43 days since a stable win.

Nigel Twiston Davies has been short on runners for this time of year. I looked at the stable entries at Perth last week and found his web site useful when assesing the form of his runners. Comments under the 'Today's runners' section are worth noting.

http://www.nigeltwistondavies.co.uk/