The Cheltenham Festival starts four weeks today and some fine-tuning will be made to hurdlers at Musselburgh tomorrow with the Gloucestershire meeting on their agenda.
The Edinburgh racecourse stages the £20,000 Scottish Triumph Hurdle Trial, a stepping stone to the JCB Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham, and County Durham trainer Howard Johnson looks the man to follow.
Johnson, who has risen to such heights in the last couple of years since having the backing of Tyneside billionaire owner Graham Wylie, saddles Akilak and I fancy Tony Dobbin's mount is the one the others will need to beat.
One run, one win is Akilak's record over hurdles, the four-year-old scoring on his debut at Cheltenham last month when he beat a useful field in the style of a talented recruit.
Akilak, previously trained on the Flat in Ireland by John Oxx, started at 50-1 that day. Tomorrow it is likely that he will start favourite. Another impressive display should see him among the leading fancies for his Cheltenham target.
Johnson, who has a fine record ar Musselburgh, can also land the Anderson Strathern Novices' Handicap Hurdle with Galero, the mount of Timmy Murphy.
An Irish point-to-point winner last year, Galero is a steeplechaser in the making. He won in gritty style over hurdles at Catterick on New Year's Day and has the scope for further improvement now that he's into handicap company. He can score again.
The £20,000 Scottish County Hurdle Trial Handicap offers another launch-pad opportunity to Cheltenham-bound horses, though quite how many of tomorrow's runners would actually get into the County Hurdle at the Festival is questionable.
Aleron, trained by John Quinn, has plenty of appeal. This decent Flat handicapper has taken well to hurdling and gained his second success of the season when landing a valuable novices' event at Musselburgh last month.
There could be more to come from Aleron, who will again have the assistance of Russ Garritty, and is this time burdened with my Nap vote.
Wednesday's tips:
Musselburgh
2.00 Galero, 2.30 Benefit, 3.00 Akilak, 3.30 Ebinzayd, 4.00 Aleron (Nap), 4.30 Coole Abbey, 5.00 Celtic Sky.
Lingfield
1.20 Long Weekend, 1.50 New Wave, 2.20 I'm Aimee, 2.50 Saraba, 3.20 Macaroni Gold, 3.50 Sir Haydn, 4.20 Southern Bazaar, 4.50 Selma.
Tomorrow's other meeting is at Leicester.
Updated: 09:55 Tuesday, February 15, 2005
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