Cardinal Venture, who has been a good servant to his North Yorkshire owner Tony Fawcett, can win the richest all-weather track race of the week at Southwell tomorrow.

The seven-year-old, trained at Hambleton by Kevin Ryan, goes for the £20,000 Littlewoods Bet Direct Handicap over seven furlongs.

Cardinal Venture, who is among the entries for the Lincoln Handicap at Doncaster in March, is very much at home on Southwell's Fibresand surface and has won on this course.

Although without a race for two months, he goes well fresh and, if he adopts his usual pace-setting tactics, he could well be hard to catch.

Cardinal Venture will be ridden by Neil Callan, who knows him well.

Attorney, who lived-up to being given top-billing in this column in Monday's Evening Press by scoring at Southwell yesterday, bids for more of the same tomorrow in the Cashbacks On Sky Text Page 372 Classified Stakes.

Trained by Ron Harris, who took out a licence only last month, Attorney has won his last three races, two of them at Southwell.

Having on Monday heralded his chances of winning yesterday but then looked elsewhere for a Nap selection, (which, typically, got beaten), I am not prepared to do the same again. Attorney, with regular rider Mark Halford on board, is therefore tomorrow's Nap.

Orpen Wide has never looked back since undergoing a gelding operation, achieving a quick hat-trick of wins for Lincolnshire trainer Michael Chapman and owner Sir Clement Freud.

The three-year-old, twice successful at Southwell and once at Wolverhampton in recent weeks, runs in the Bet Direct Handicap over five furlongs.

As a three-year-old taking on older horses at this time of the year he is likely to find this a tougher task but he is in such wonderful heart that he could add to his impressive sequence.

Brian Reilly, a useful apprentice who has ridden him before, again has the mount.

Tomorrow's Tips:

Southwell

12.40 Bahamian Spring, 1.10 Attorney (Nap), 1.40 Scary Night, 2.10 Dispol Peto, 2.40 Sovereignty, 3.10 Orpen Wide, 3.40 Cardinal Venture, 4.10 Brother Cadfael.

Ludlow

1.20 Monsal Dale, 1.50 Dempsey, 2.20 Reflex Blue, 2.50 Polar Scout, 3.20 Gaye Trigger, 3.50 Ostfanni, 4.20 Cantgeton.

Tomorrow's other meeting is at Taunton.

Updated: 10:42 Wednesday, January 19, 2005