Horse Racing: Fox will give rivals the slip

THE NIFTY FOX can gain just reward for several good efforts this term by landing his first win of the year at Musselburgh tomorrow.

Tim Easterby's sprinter has been placed in four of his last seven races, including when beaten in a photo-finish here in June when he went down by a head to Rasaman.

He now meets his conqueror on substantially better terms in the Toteexacta Handicap (4.20pm) over the minimum trip tomorrow and can be expected to turn the tables.

The Nifty Fox also ran well when caught in the dying strides at Ayr earlier in the year, but his best effort this summer may well have come when he finished sixth in the highly-competitive Scottish Sprint Cup over this course and distance in June behind stable companion Hamish McGonagall. The six-year-old has other good form on this track to his credit.

Cat O'Nine Tails opened her winning account when making all the running for an easy success at Thirsk recently and can follow up in the Daily Record Handicap (3.20pm). Mark Johnston's filly was too backward to run as a juvenile but showed plenty of promise in the first half of this campaign, making the frame in her first four races before disappointing when dropped back in trip at Pontefract, but she revelled in the switch back to a mile and a half at Thirsk. She tackles an extra quarter of a mile this time but races as though it should suit and she gets weight from all her rivals.

Janet's Pearl has been runner-up in her last two races and can go one better in the Racing UK Maiden Auction Stakes (2.50pm). Her inexperience showed when she was unplaced on her debut at Ayr last month, but she then led until inside the final furlong when second at Beverley and again when runner-up at Catterick.

Madam Markievicz won over the minimum trip here last month and can repeat the dose in the Event-a-Loo Selling Stakes (3.50pm). The filly was runner-up at Thirsk and Beverley before beating Crimson Knot here and the latter boosted the form with a victory on this track in midweek.

Joe Rowntree's Musselburgh Selections: 2.50: Janet's Pearl; 3.20: Cat O'Nine Tails; 3.50: Madam Markievicz; 4.20: The Nifty Fox.