Goldie and Dalgleish eye Musselburgh riches

MUSSELBURGH stages a prestigious new fixture today when the Betfair Bonus Scottish Racing Series brings together some prolific lower-class winners from the tartan turf season to fight it out for £103,000 of prize money.

Scottish racegoers will be familiar with a lot of the names on the seven-race card, with winners from Ayr, Hamilton and Musselburgh competing in a ‘Scottish Champions Day’, with all but one of the races attracting maximum fields of 14. The incentive behind this Betfair sponsored initiative was to heighten the profile of Scottish flat racing and appropriately enough the series has highlighted the growing competition between Scotland’s two leading trainers, Jim Goldie and Keith Dalgleish.

Today’s meeting features three £25,000 races. The Sprint Series Final at 3.05 includes the fancied duo of Wicked Wilma and Bosun Breese from the stables of Alan Berry and David Barron, but this exciting 5f dash could be dominated by Jim Goldie’s dual Musselburgh winner Rothesay Chancer, stablemate North Central and the Carluke-trained Blown It, who has only once figured out of the money in his last five outings.

The Betfair Mile Series Final at 4.15 could be the exception to the Goldie-Dalgleish monopoly with the top weight I’m Super Too, from Alan Swinbank’s yard near Scotch Corner, attempting to see off the powerful challenge from the Tim Easterby pair, Thinking and Fibs and Flannel. The latter, who carries the colours of Channel 4’s Jim McGrath, has yet to win this season but looks well handicapped this afternoon.

Goldie and Dalgleish are back in the driving seat for the 5.15, the Scottish Racing Stayers Series Final and Dalgleish’s Chookie Hamilton will have a big following. This popular multi-course winner returned to top form at Musselburgh’s August meeting and a repetition of that running is certain to see him a major contender for the substantial prize money.

Goldie though is triple-handed with Forest Flyer, Johnny Delta and Los Nadis all holding strong claims. Preference here is for Los Nadis, owned by the Dunblane-based Ian Dalgleish. Los Nadis, a Musselburgh winner under both codes, recently won a Perth handicap hurdle in decisive style and this versatile performer is selected to prove marginally too smart for Chookie Hamilton.

At Haydock, meanwhile, connections of Hoof It are hoping the four-year-old finds things going his way in the Betfred Sprint Cup at Haydock. Emphatic winner of a valuable handicap at York before going on to land the Stewards’ Cup at Glorious Goodwood under the burden of 10st, Mick Easterby’s gelding was added to the field for the Nunthorpe Stakes back on the Knavesmire at a cost of £20,000. But after missing the break, Kieren Fallon’s mount was always up against it over the York five furlongs, never really getting in a serious blow towards the centre of the track, although only two lengths behind winner Margot Did, who came up the stands side.

He has again been supplemented, this time to the tune of £13,000, and with Fallon required at Ascot, Graham Gibbons has come in for the plum ride in the six-furlong showpiece.

Top golf agent Andrew ‘Chubby’ Chandler, who owns Hoof It with Lee Westwood, said: “I don’t think it was really the trip that was the problem at York, I just think he could have done with racing with a few other horses.”

Gibbons said: “When I got off him last season I certainly didn’t think he was going to improve 30lb. He works with old Blue Spinnaker at home and when he sees Mick in the jeep he knows something is going on. He’s a clever horse and he knows what he’s doing, he’s a pleasure to ride. It will be the lowest weight he has had on his back for a while, he’ll think he’s loose.”