Musselburgh's riches prove magnetic

MUSSELBURGH will be close to capacity this afternoon for its most prestigious Flat meeting, with the £40,000 Totescoop6 Scottish Sprint Cup and £80,000 Totesport.com Edinburgh Cup providing powerful attractions.

The fact that the seven-race card opens with a 30,000 handicap gives an indication of the calibre of racing on show, and punters will be able to watch the Derby from Epsom on the big screens just after the feature race.

The Sprint Cup looks as difficult as ever to predict, but Paul Hanagan's mount Doctor Parkes is no stranger to hot contests such as this one, and knows how to win and he could be the solution, although Kevin Ryan's Racy made a solid seasonal reappearance and could prove his main rival in the betting ring and on the course.

Hanagan also has a leading chance in the Edinburgh Cup with Bridle Bell, who looks on a handy weight, although Mark Johnston is always to be feared in these type of races and he saddles the top two in the weights, Namibian and Eternal Hart.

Punters had mixed fortunes on the first day of the meeting as the sun shone on the East Lothian course yesterday. Many backers were left licking their wounds when the 1-2 supposed banker of the day, Motivado, could not peg back Lexington Bay in the feature race, the 15,000 Tradesmen's Derby Handicap.

The Sir Mark Prescott-trained Motivado was stepping up in distance, but there was major confidence behind him winning a second handicap on the spin. However, Richard Fahey's Lexington Bay got first run on the favourite under a clever ride by David Nolan and he held on for a three-quarter length success at 13-2.

Tim Easterby's Lost In Paris had winning previous form at Musselburgh and, sent off the 4-1 joint favourite, put it to good use to run out an impressive winner of the Edgen Murray Europe Ltd Tartan Trophy Handicap (Consolation Race for the Scottish Sprint Cup). Ra Junior (11-4) and Jim Goldie's Rothesay Chancer (7-4) were the other winning favourites, watched by a crowd of 1,800.

Jockey-turned-trainer Keith Dalgleish continued his excellent debut season with another winner as nicely-named newcomer Act Your Shoe Size won at 4-1.

There is a fixture at Perth tomorrow too, continuing a busy time in the Scottish racing calendar. Garleton can take the feature race honours for trainer Maurice Barnes, a Grand National winning jockey.

The Carlisle trainer steered Rubstic to glory at Aintree in 1979 and that was the venue of Garleton's latest success last month.The ten-year-old goes for the Binn Waste Management Perth Gold Cup Handicap Chase on the back of a three-length call over Presentandcorrect over the Mildmay fences at the Liverpool track.

He made all the running that day in the hands of Alexander Voy and the 5lb-claiming conditional, who has formed a great rapport with the gelding, keeps the ride.

Gordon Elliott is a proven maestro at the Perthshire venue, and looks to have another winner elect in the shape of Priors Gold.

The progressive four-year-old goes for glory in the Provost's Plate Challenge Trophy Novices' Hurdle, having won in some style at Kilbeggan on his final start.

Elliott must have been thrilled by that effort, such was the style in which he accounted for the Peccatorum by nearly six lengths. Having already proven his aptitude on fast ground, conditions may be a little on the quick side, the step up to two-and-a-half miles should be of little inconvenience. Even with the obligatory penalty, he should prove way too smart for his five rivals in Scotland.

Goldie also excels with his runners in Perthshire and he can be trusted to have Regent's Secret ready to roll in the Subsea Services Handicap Chase. The veteran campaigner showed characteristic guts to repel Quito Du Tresor over this course and distance in April, and has not been punished too severely by the assessor.

Despite his age, he is still open to a little more progress over fences and clearly loves competing at this track, where he has struck gold five times. Perhaps crucially, Regent's Secret still has a bit of ground to make up on his hurdles rating of 110.

Meanwhile, Irish 2,000 Guineas hero Roderic O'Connor goes in search of further Classic honours in France tomorrow as he contests the Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly.

Aidan O'Brien's three-year-old was an emotional victor at the Curragh as he gave the trainer's son Joseph his first Classic success by making all of the running. He steps up to a mile and a quarter this weekend and Ryan Moore takes over in the saddle.

A 16-runner field also includes Godolphin's Casamento, and French Guineas winner Tin Horse, who also steps up in distance.