Duke tipped for more glory, but weekend racing as clear as mud

Published on Saturday 6 September 2008 00:01

The nation's punters should be tucking into their cereal this morning in the knowledge that a great day of battling with the bookies stretches before them. Instead, much of the action could already have been flushed away by the time they've moved on to tea and toast.

Both this afternoon's remaining turf fixtures in Britain face early inspections, as does the card at Leopardstown, but it could have been worse. At least we know the meeting at Thirsk is definitely off. That was in doubt from yesterday morning but bizarrely, the Yorkshire course originally planned to take a look at the track at seven o'clock last night because the steward whose job it was to make the call was otherwise engaged at Catterick.

Exactly why no-one else could have been roped in and asked to take a wee peek at conditions is unclear, but it all worked out in the end as Catterick was abandoned which presumably freed up the official concerned and, shortly later, Thirsk followed suit.

Should the worst case-scenario ensue today, the highest profile victim will be Leopardstown's Champion Stakes in which Duke Of Marmalade and New Approach are set to renew rivalry.

In the past week, the clash between the big two has been on, then maybe off, then back on again, but even if racing at the Dublin track is on, their head to-head could still be off.

The Duke's trainer Aidan O'Brien has never been keen to run his five-times Group 1 winner on really testing ground and no matter what happens overnight, that is what's likely to prevail so like most of today's big events, it's very much a case of wait and see.

Should the card be abandoned, it will be transferred to tomorrow but whenever it takes place, if at all it does, Duke Of Marmalade would be the choice to once again see off his Epsom Derby-winning rival.

Contingency plans are also in place lest Haydock's fixture bites the dust, or the water, with the Betfred Sprint Cup set to be incorporated into next week's St Leger meeting at Doncaster.

In the highly unlikely event that the Merseyside venue is passed fit to race, Equiano can land the 300,000 contest. Having started his career in Spain, you might think the colt would thrive in hot, sunny climes but the selection actually enjoys running in mud and there's a fair chance he'll get a bit of that here.

Equiano finished fourth in the Nunthorpe behind Borderlescott on his first start for Barry Hills but he was staying on that day so this step up to six furlongs should see him in a better light.

Whatever happens on the grass, we should at least be able to look forward to a couple of all-weather cards to while away the hours and with plenty of prize money on offer, this afternoon's Kempton fixture has attracted some high-class fields.

The fact the fixture kicks off with two Group 3 contests gives some idea of the quality on offer and while Elnadim's 25-1 starting price when scoring at Newmarket last time out suggested otherwise, he can prove his success was no fluke in the opener. Henry Cecil boasts a 50 per cent strike rate with his runners at Kempton and Many Volumes looks poised to give the great man another course winner.

Once considered Derby material, the colt hasn't quite lived up to those high expectations but he's no mug although a frustrating run of near misses this season might have made his supporters wonder if Many Volumes was always going to be a nearly man.

Victory in a Listed event at Sandown two outings ago went some way to dispelling that theory and success over today's course last time out blew it completely out of the water. Cecil originally had four entries in today's race so if he's happy to rely on just the one, who are we to argue?

With so much doubt hovering over what's going to be on and what's not, it's probably better to stick to the sand for the nap as that way we'll at least get a run for our money. Premio Loco has top weight to carry in the London Mile but the way he won over course and distance in July suggests that's unlikely to halt his progress.