Weekend Preview: Snow scuppers Betfair Super Saturday

Weekend Preview/Review / Timeform / 10 February 2012 / 1 Comments

Musselburgh stages National Hunt racing on Saturday.

"Current ground conditions at Musselburgh are reported to be good to soft, good in places with only light rain forecasted..."

The adverse weather conditions have scuppered a fantastic days racing at Newbury, but the racing world will plough ahead with Musselburgh and a trio of all-weather tracks staging cards on Saturday, and Exeter, Hereford and Southwell all looking to race on Sunday...

Firstly, climbing out of bed at 04:50 in the morning may not be all that desirable on a Saturday, but that is when you can see the stunning Black Caviar take to the track in the CF Orr Stakes at Caulfield, looking to extend her unbeaten run to 18; Timeform's Australian expert Gary Crispe assess how she is likely to fare in his preview "Black Caviar just wins".

Current ground conditions at Musselburgh are reported to be good to soft, good in places and, with only light rain forecasted, the East Lothian track is likely to be in good condition for their seven-race card.

Races such as the Scottish Champion Chase, featuring the likes of Lightening Rod and the Donald McCain-trained Tara Royal, and the Scottish Triumph Hurdle, where Kie and Creekside are the standout entries, make the card a rather enticing one.

The unfortunate abandonment of Newbury ought to ensure plenty of runners and some top jockeys in action, making for some competitive racing.

Lingfield's Saturday card continues the competitive theme, as it features Round 6 of the Sprint Series alongside a number of other races over five and six furlongs.

Kempton's card is very much of a similar ilk, with races containing over 10 runners a common occurrence, before we move on to Wolverhampton for an eight-race evening card.

International action on Saturday evening comes from Gulfstream Park, in south Florida, where the Donn Handicap (Grade 1) and the Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap (Grade 1) are the races of most interest. More can be read on both of these races in Timeform's Grame North's preview "Two Classic winners set to return".

Moving on to Sunday, where Hereford and Exeter both hope to stage National Hunt cards, although the former track will inspect at 11:30 Saturday morning whilst Exeter will inspect on raceday at 08:00.

Southwell may well come to the rescue for National Hunt trainers on Sunday, by hosting a "Jumper's Bumpers" card, whilst Leopardstown is the venue for a quartet of Grade 1 races, with a number of Cheltenham challengers on display. For more on this weekend's Irish racing, read Timeform's preview "Mullins to Quel rivals on Grade 1 card at Leopardstown".

Comments (1)

1. Colin Pomfret | 11 February 2012

   Tried to have a bet on my iPad for first time today and coudn' t see how to log in to my account. Help.n