THERE may be no racing in the north or even the midlands tomorrow, but that has not deterred Norton trainer Brian Ellison, who is sending Travis County on the long haul to Salisbury to bid for his second success of the campaign.

Ellison has high expectations of this juvenile, whom he bought for just £7,000 at the Kempton Breeze-Up Sales in the spring. A good second at Newcastle on his debut, Travis County went one better in a decent maiden race at Ripon next time out in the hands of Paul Pickard, who has the mount again tomorrow.

Travis County tackles the £10,000 K J Pike & Sons Ltd Auction Stakes and comes up against some useful-looking opposition. But the North Yorkshire challenger is no mean performer himself and he is selected to follow-up his Ripon success and make his long journey south well worth worthwhile.

The nap vote is awarded to Bertoliver in the K J Pike & Sons Seniors Sprint Handicap.

A six-times winner, Bertoliver, trained by Dean Ivory, showed he is still capable of doing his stuff when beaten little more than two lengths by the high-class Captain Dunne, trained by Tim Easterby, in the Epsom ‘Dash’ at the Derby meeting earlier this month.

He would surely not need to improve much on that performance to win this race, which is confined to horses of six-years-old and more.

Sense Of Pride promises to take plenty of beating in the H S Lester Memorial Handicap.

The John Gosden-trained filly has very little mileage on the clock and is the winner of one of her three starts. A promising third at Sandown on her reappearance, she is entitled to improve from that and prove a tough nut to crack in this staying contest.

Gosden and his stable jockey William Buick can also win the Jolly Property Services Maiden Stakes with Gatewood, beaten only a neck by Highland Castle on his debut at Windsor. He should be wiser this time.

At Windsor tomorrow, Jivry commands respect in the Try totequickpick Handicap.

Trained by Henry Candy, this filly was a winner on her debut at Nottingham last season but she was a beaten favourite on her only other start at Newbury.

She starts this term running off a fair mark of 80 and, despite having to carry top-weight here, is not one to underestimate.

In the ‘Winker Watson’ Fillies’ Stakes, Guru Girl is worth a passing look, not least because she hails from the Middleham yard of Elaine Burke, who obviously feels it worthwhile to have a crack at this valuable contest, which boasts more than £14,000 in prize money.

A winner at Ascot on her debut, Guru Girl came up short in a Listed contest at Naas last time out.

She does, however, remain a decent prospect and it would be no surprise to see her firmly in the mix here.

Kieren Fallon could be the jockey to follow at the meeting. He teams up with recent winner Norman Orpen (4.35) for Jane Chapple-Hyam and also the promising Electra Star (5.05), who represents Newmarket trainer William Haggas.


Racing selections

Salisbury
2.00 Bronze Angel, 2.35 Gold Sceptre, 3.05 Free Tussy, 3.35 Bertoliver (NAP), 4.10 Sense Of Pride, 4.45 Travis County, 5.15 Gatewood, 5.45 Salvationist.

Windsor
2.25 Beach Babe, 2.55 Albany Rose, 3.25 Jivry, 4.00 Guru Girl, 4.35 Norman Orpen, 5.05 Electra Star.

Tomorrow’s other meeting: Uttoxeter.

Today’s meetings: Chester, Doncaster, Lingfield, Newcastle, Newmarket and Windsor.