MARKET RASEN, 19 March 2007, Good To Soft

3:10 Racing UK On Channel 432 Handicap Hurdle (Class 3) (4yo+,0-120) 12 hdles 3m

[off 3:10] £6,506.00, £1,910.00, £955.00, £477.00

1 Gidam Gidam (IRE) J Mackie 5 12-2 7p Phil Kinsella(3) 11/8F 124 — —

2 5 Cousin Nicky P J Hobbs 6 11-11 T J O´Brien 7/2 116 — —

3 9 Wicked Nice Fella (IRE) C C Bealby 9 11-3 Tom Messenger(5) 10/1 113 — —

4 nk Beau Coup John R Upson 10 9-11 Charlie Poste(5) 33/1 93 — —

5 ¾ Karathaena (IRE) M E Sowersby 7 11-3 Fearghal Davis(7) 15/2 115 — —

6 33 Southern Bazaar (USA) M C Chapman 6 9-8 117 David Cullinane(7) 28/1 92 — —

7 16 Le Royal (FR) K G Reveley 8 10-11 James Reveley(7) 17/2 109 — —

8 27 Alagon (IRE) Ian Williams 7 10-11 b Willie McCarthy(5) 12/1 107 — —

8 ran TIME 6m 1.20s (slow by 14.20s) TOTAL SP 109%

1st OWNER: Jennifer Woodward & Caroline Lawson BRED: Gerrardstown House Stud TRAINER: J Mackie

2nd OWNER: Patrick Beach

3rd OWNER: C Martin

TOTE WIN £2.20 PL £1.10, £1.30, £2.30; Ex £6.90; CSF £6.27; TRICAST £28.27

GIDAM GIDAM, a decisive winner over this course-and-distance last week, defied a 7lb penalty in typically gritty style. A horse who has progressed well over hurdles, and who stays well, he will now be aimed at a Listed handicap at Aintree.

Cousin Nicky, who was never able to dominate, was produced to win his race off the home turn, but his jumping through the race and, also in the closing stages, was not altogether fluent and he had to bow to the superior firepower of the winner from the final flight.

Wicked Nice Fella had every chance, but he failed to see out his race as well as the front two.

3:50 intercasino.co.uk Handicap Chase (Class 3) (5yo+,0-135) 16 fences (2m4f110y) 2m4½f

[off 3:50] £9,394.50, £2,775.00, £1,387.50, £694.50, £346.50, £174.00

1 Idole First (IRE) Miss Venetia Williams 8 11-10 Alan O´Keeffe 12/1 128 141 145+

2 2½ Laskari (FR) P R Webber 8 10-13 t Andrew Tinkler 15/2 117 128 128

3 18 Cousin Nicky P J Hobbs 6 11-4 Richard Johnson 4/1C 122 114 118+

4 3½ Corporate Player (IRE) Noel T Chance 9 10-0 W T Kennedy(3) 14/1 107 96 96

5 1 Roznic (FR) P Winkworth 9 11-2 Leighton Aspell 16/1 120 107 108

6 1¾ Marked Man (IRE) R Lee 11 11-7 S E Durack 20/1 125 111 111

7 12 Aleron (IRE) J J Quinn 9 11-8 p G Lee 16/1 126 99 100

8 5 Duncliffe R H Alner 10 11-9 Daryl Jacob(3) 25/1 130 98 99

9 9 Dun An Doras (IRE) J D Frost 11 9-10 Byron Moorcroft(10) 12/1 110 68 70

PU Ma Furie (FR) Miss H C Knight 7 10-13 t Timmy Murphy 20/1 117 — —

PU Kenzo III (FR) N J Henderson 9 11-2 C M Studd(5) 4/1C 125 — —

PU Keltic Bard C J Mann 10 11-11 v1 Noel Fehily 4/1C 129 — —

12 ran TIME 5m 26.40s (slow by 17.40s) TOTAL SP 118%

NON RUNNER: Pass Me A Dime

1st OWNER: D and J Racing Ltd BRED: Ralph Alfandari TRAINER: Miss Venetia Williams

2nd OWNER: Mrs W Morrell

3rd OWNER: Patrick Beach

TOTE WIN £12.70 PL £4.10, £2.50, £2.10; Ex £140.50; CSF £97.24; TRICAST £431.50Place 6 £106.21, Place 5 £78.12

Lots of these were familiar names but many of them came here out of form.

IDOLE FIRST, winner of the Coral Cup in 2005, did not do as well over fences last season but that left him on an exploitable mark, 3lb lower than the one he won off at Cheltenham. Racing for the first time in 283 days, he put up his best effort yet over fences, winning by a long margin and with plenty in hand after effectively outclassing his rivals.

Trainer Venetia Williams believes the horse lost his confidence last season, and the schooling carried out to rectify that has clearly worked. He deserves his place in a hotter handicap after this decisive success.

Laskari, wearing a tongue-tie for the first time, had shown up well at Leicester last time. He stepped upanother notch this time, with the key to his progression being an improvement in his jumping.

The consistent Cousin Nicky is smart over both hurdles and fences, but he is handicapped to the hilt in both spheres.

Corporate Player, in effect having his first run of the season after unseating early on at Ascot over the festive period, should be sharper for this completion. He ran well enough, as did Roznic and Marked Man.

Duncliffe was still a danger entering the final mile but he is out of form at the moment, as is Keltic Bard, who had already been given one sharp reminder when making a mess of the second ditch. His first-time visor did not look to be having much effect, so he remains one to be wary of for the time being.

2:20 We Wish You A Merry Christmas Handicap Chase (Class 3) (4yo+,0-130) 11 fences 4 omitted (2m3f110y) 2m3½f

[off 2:50] £9,759.00, £2,865.00, £1,432.50, £715.50

1 Avitta (IRE) Miss Venetia Williams 7 11-3 Liam Treadwell(3) 14/1 120 129 130+

2 1½ Bishop´s Bridge (IRE) Miss E C Lavelle 8 11-8 Barry Fenton 7/2 122 130 130+

3 1¾ Cousin Nicky P J Hobbs 5 11-7 Richard Johnson 5/2J 121 127 128+

4 18 Down The Stretch J R Payne 6 10-5 Joe Tizzard 12/1 105 93 93

5 3 Strike Back (IRE) C J Mann 8 11-12 p Noel Fehily 16/1 126 111 111

6 3 Tighe Caster P Bowen 7 11-12 A P McCoy 12/1 126 108 108

7 8 Roznic (FR) P Winkworth 8 11-7 Leighton Aspell 12/1 121 95 95

F Nenuphar Collonges (FR) A King 5 11-6 b Wayne Hutchinson 5/2J 120 — 130+

8 ran TIME 4m 47.00s (slow by 10.00s) TOTAL SP 114%

NON RUNNER: No Visibility (IRE)

1st OWNER: P A Deal, A Hirschfeld & M Graham BRED: Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum TRAINER: Miss Venetia Williams

2nd OWNER: S Kimber

3rd OWNER: Patrick Beach

TOTE WIN £14.10 PL £2.30, £1.90, £1.80; Ex £30.70; CSF £64.44; TRICAST £166.56

The four fences in the back straight were omitted - unsafe ground.

The feature race of the day produced a thrilling finish, with AVITTA keeping on gamely after the last, having joined issue four out. This represented a step up in class for hat-trick seeker Avitta, who was racing off a career-high mark. She had to dig deep to hold Bishop's Bridge over the last couple of fences and is clearly improving. She'll go up again for this but continues to defy the handicapper.

Bishop's Bridge was chasing a four-timer after wins over course and distance, and at Fontwell and Ascot. He looked to be going best two out, when he held a narrow lead but was run out of it after the last.

Cousin Nicky had scored twice over course and distance in March but was bullied for the lead and could not match strides with the eventual winner.

SANDOWN, 02 December 2006, Heavy

1:30 williamhillpoker.com Handicap Hurdle (Class 3) (4yo+,0-130) 11 hdles 2m6f

[off 1:31] £9,759.00, £2,865.00, £1,432.50, £715.50

 1 Ben´s Turn (IRE) A King 5 10-9 Robert Thornton 9/2 111 98 116+

2 ¾ Kipsigis (IRE) Lady Herries 5 11-1 Leighton Aspell 4/1 117 104 119+

3 1 Beare Necessities (IRE) M J Hogan 7 9-13 Mr S P Hanson(7) 33/1 108 94 111+

4 1¼ Cousin Nicky P J Hobbs 5 10-10 7 Richard Johnson 10/11F 112 97 111+

5 1½ Ingres B G Powell 6 9-7 2tb C M Studd(7) 22/1 102 85 99+

6 11 Legally Fast (USA) P Bowen 4 11-3 Mick Fitzgerald 12/1 119 92 104

7 63 One Nation (IRE) R S Brookhouse 11 10-10 Alan O´Keeffe 66/1 112 23 34

8 30 Quazar (IRE) Jonjo O´Neill 8 11-9 t Timmy Murphy 33/1 125 5 17

9 ½ Two Miles West (IRE) Jonjo O´Neill 5 11-12 A P McCoy 14/1 128 7 20

9 ran TIME 5m 42.50s (slow by 36.50s) TOTAL SP 116%

1st OWNER: C B Brookes BRED: Miss E Violet Sweeney TRAINER: A King

2nd OWNER: Lady Sarah Clutton

3rd OWNER: Mrs Barbara Hogan

TOTE WIN £4.80 PL £1.80, £1.60, £4.60; Ex £21.60; CSF £22.60; TRICAST £529.84

A competitive affair in which the market was headed by a well-treated recent winner and two unexposed runners who had enjoyed a good first campaign last season. BEN'S TURN was one of the latter pair, having won three bumpers and a novice hurdle lastseason and met her only defeat when narrowly beaten in a race in which they didn't go quick enough for her. Alan King has made no secret of the fact that he thinks she is decent, and off a mark of only 111 there was every chance she had been underestimated. She won only narrowly but had travelled well throughout with the leaders in her sights, then survived an incident at the second-last when Beare Necessities tried to get up her inner. Then, after getting to the front approaching the last, she was always just doing enough in a slow-motion finish. She should not go up much for this, and King, who said she'll never do much in front, hopes to pick up some black type with her.

Kipsigis was moderate on the Flat but had won both his races over hurdles last season, including a handicap here. He too was making his reappearance, but he looked particularly well and raced upsides the winner most of the way. Having made his effort at much the same time, he only just lost out in a driving finish. He looks sure to win a similar race before long.

Beare Necessities showed how well he handled these conditions at Plumpton in the spring, and he may well have been unlucky, because he was badly hampered when trying for a narrow gap up the winner's inside two out, and the mistake he made there almost had the rider out of the side door. The seven-year-old recovered to go close enough to suggest he might well have won with a clear passage.

Cousin Nicky won easily at Newbury on Sunday and even with the penalty was still 9lb lower than he is over fences. However, this run came plenty quick enough considering how testing it was that day, and this time he wasn't allowed his own way. He may be better off back over fences.

Ingres is hard to win with, but he had run well at Ascot last time and he ran pretty well again.

NEWBURY, 26 November 2006, Heavy

1:35 cantorspreadfair.com Novices' Handicap Hurdle (Class 3) (3yo+,0-120) 10 hdles 2m5f

 [off 1:36] £9,759.00, £2,865.00, £1,432.50, £715.50

1 Cousin Nicky P J Hobbs 5 11-7 Richard Johnson 7/2 105 109 114+

2 7 Men Of Destiny (IRE) B G Powell 5 10-12 R J Killoran(7) 66/1 103 100 102

3 1 Double Law Miss E C Lavelle 6 11-7 Barry Fenton 25/1 105 101 103

4 2½ Swift Sailor G L Moore 5 11-5 p Jamie Moore 5/2 103 96 100+

5 12 Almost Broke P F Nicholls 9 11-5 Sam Thomas 9/4F 103 84 87

6 3½ Lord Rosskit (IRE) G M Moore 6 11-12 T J O´Brien 12/1 110 88 90

7 1¼ Pocket Too M Salaman 3 10-5 J A McCarthy 25/1 105 65 68

8 20 Secret Pact (IRE) A M Hales 4 11-9 W T Kennedy(3) 25/1 110 66 69

9 20 Nudge And Nurdle (IRE) N A Twiston-Davies 5 11-7 Tony Evans 10/1 105 40 44

10 ¾ Cockspur (IRE) Jonjo O´Neill 5 11-2 Noel Fehily 50/1 100 34 38

11 30 Hippodrome (IRE) R Simpson 4 11-10 tb James Davies 50/1 108 9 16

PU Thenford Flyer (IRE) D J S Ffrench Davis 6 11-9 Tony Dobbin 25/1 107 — —

12 ran TIME 5m 30.50s (slow by 30.50s) TOTAL SP 119%

NON RUNNERS: Irish Whispers (IRE) ,Krismas Cracker

1st OWNER: Patrick Beach BRED: Andrew Jenkins TRAINER: P J Hobbs

2nd OWNER: L Gilbert

3rd OWNER: Mrs P Scott-Dunn

TOTE WIN £4.40 PL £2.00, £8.30, £4.50; Ex £435.70; CSF £213.27; TRICAST £4990.91Not won. TRIFECTA £0.00 Not won.

A decent performance from COUSIN NICKY in this novices' handicap hurdle as he did it the hard way from the front. He had proved himself on heavy ground last season and got in here off a lower mark than his chase rating so had a great chance anyway, but he was value for more than the winning distance and it would be no surprise if connections opt to keep him hurdling for now before a return to fences.

Men Of Destiny remains a maiden, but should soon put that right if he repeats this showing on ground that clearly holds no terrors.

Double Law seemed more at home in these conditions than the faster ground he encountered last time, and should be found an opening.

However, Swift Sailor appears not to be the same force in this ground; his win came on good going, and he needs a return to that on this evidence.