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Ungaro worth another chance to atone for Kempton tumble

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Graham Cunningham talks us through his fancies in Saturday's racing with action from Doncaster and Kelso

THESE are risky times for horses, riders and punters alike.

If you are a Cheltenham fancy who stands on a stone, your place at the Festival is lost. If you are the rider of that Festival fancy who picks up a ban this weekend you run the risk of missing the biggest show of the year. And if you are a punter who hits a losing streak at this time of year, your Cheltenham bank can be blown apart.

Time to tread carefully as the main event approaches, then, but Doncaster serves up a good card this Saturday and Ungaro is worth one more chance in the clash of the Grand National fancies at 3.30.

Cloudy Lane and Mr Pointment are the two Aintree contenders, and bookmakers have already fielded substantial support for them, but this isn't the day that matters most and they each have hefty hikes in the weights to contend with.

By contrast, Keith Reveley will doubtless have a retrieval mission in mind with Ungaro. Regular readers will recall he was recommended on this page for last week's Racing Post Chase only to depart early.

Connections plainly feel he is none the worse and a reproduction of the form he showed when pipped by An Accordion in the Skybet Chase here will take him very close indeed.

Bywell Beau the back to lay option in a rematch of Wetherby rivals

THERE are certain horses who jump off the page as potential back to lay options. And one such horse is Bywell Beau, who returns to fences in the 3.10 at Kelso this Saturday.

George Charlton's gelding was beaten by Circassian on his chasing debut at Wetherby over Christmas with Open De L'Isle back in fifth.

The trio have gone their separate ways with mixed results since. Circassian flopped on unsuitably deep ground at Carlisle and now represents a toe in the water for Howard Johnson after his brief stable closedown.

Open De L'Isle ran a corker at the same venue recently, while Bywell Beau has contested two hurdle races since. In truth, Bywell Beau disappointed last time out, but he was in very deep against Afsoun and Straw Bear at Sandown.

The return to fences looks a plus. So is the 5lb pull he enjoys with Circassian, and if Bywell Beau can iron out the tendency to jump right he displayed at Wetherby, his trailblazing style will have in running players hitting the back button a long way from home.

History can repeat itself as Tamimi's heads to Kelso

THREE years ago this weekend Nicky Richards sent an ex-Irish gelding racing in the well- known red Jim Ennis colours to Kelso for a novice hurdle.

The horse in question was Faasel, who went very close and came within an ace of winning the Triumph Hurdle just over a week later.

Whether Tamimi's History is anything like as good as Faasel remains to be seen, but the comparisons with his older stablemate are clear enough.

First, he came from the Kevin Prendergast yard. Second, he was good enough to earn an official mark of 100 on the Flat. And third, he showed he is more than good enough to win a novice hurdle on his jumping debut.

Richards threw Tamimi's History in quite deep for the Scottish Triumph Hurdle Trial at Musselburgh. Lack of experience proved a barrier to him that day, but he travelled nicely for a long way and the experience combined with a handy turnaround in the weights gives him bright prospects of taking his revenge on the runner-up Los Nadis.

Nicholls in the firing line as Forum warriors see red

IT is fair to say Paul Nicholls wins more minds than hearts - which is exactly how he likes it - but the stick he has copped on the Betfair Forum this week is absurd.

First, the champion trainer suggested in his Racing Post column that Gungadu was up against it at the weights in the racing Post Chase. It was a simple opinion expressed in the open manner Nicholls has carved his reputation on, yet once Gungadu won he took dog's abuse for supposedly "putting away" the public.

Next came an intriguing Tauton novice hurdle on Thursday in which Nicholls saddled the first and second home. Nothing unusual in that, of course, but the fact that the so-called second string Pacha D'Oudairies landed a gamble at the expense of odds-on stablemate Ocean Du Moulin had the conspiracy theorists in meltdown.

The issue of whether the Nicholls team enjoyed a rare touch with a horse who had been hiding his light under a bushel is an interesting one.

But not as interesting as the question of whether Nicholls will continue his open dialogue with the media if he keeps copping flak whenever punters feel the script they had in mind has not been followed.

The choice for those who like to let rip is straightforward. Either you can have Nicholls giving his view openly and being wrong sometimes just like the rest of us, or we can return to the days when prising the most basic running plan from the likes of Martin Pipe was like pulling teeth.

I know which way I prefer it. And remember, the chances of being "put away" are greatly reduced if you use your eyes rather than your ears.


Cunningham's weekend advice

1 Back Ungaro: Doncaster 3.30
2 Back Tamimi's History: Kelso 2.35
3 Back Bywell Beau (and lay in running at [1.5]): Kelso 3.10