WHETHER in the saddle during his days as a top-flight National Hunt jockey or, more recently, in his present incarnation as a Middleham-based trainer, Michael Hammond has always excelled at Catterick.

And given it has been such a happy hunting ground for Hammond over the past 15 years, there's no reason to suggest he'll not once again be back among the winners at the course this afternoon with Mexican.

Mexican (12.50), already successful over course and distance, brought home the bacon in spectacular fashion when thrashing Tiger Frog by six lengths off an identical rating in January.

The selection had no chance whatsoever when hitting the deck in a far hotter event last time out, but today's test is nothing like as severe and hopefully it will be hats off to Mexican, provided he passes the post in first place.

Like Mexican, Tim Easterby's Doe Nal Rua is admirably suited by the sharp left-handed track, more so than Wetherby's wide-open spaces, where he has twice made the frame when clashing with some pretty decent opponents on his latest couple of outings.

I believe the faster surface will also be in Doe Nal Rua's favour, especially as one or two of his rivals in the Document Express Anniversary Handicap Chase would ideally prefer a little more juice in the turf.

Although there's a very disappointing turnout for Exeter's feature, the South-West Racing Club Handicap Chase, it won't worry connections of the top weight, Jimmy Tennis (1.40).

Considering Jimmy Tennis had been sidelined for the best part of nine months, he ran a corker in the Listed John Hughes Chase at Chepstow on his seasonal reappearance 12 days ago.

The Venetia Williams-trained stayer kept tabs on some real big guns that day until lack of race-fitness proved his undoing with only three fences left to jump. To accurately put into context the strength of the race, the horse in charge once heads turned for home was One Knight, who collected at no lesser venue than the 2003 Cheltenham Festival.

Jimmy Tennis faces nothing of that calibre in this particular extended three-mile-and-one-furlong challenge, which makes his task significantly easier, seeing as the majority of the horses entered at the five-day stage have decided to stay away.

It's not been a good year for the once-useful miler Atlantic Ace, who has failed to win a race of any description during 2004.

In his hey-day Bryan Smart's raider was a familiar face at the likes of Glorious Goodwood, but basking in the mid-summer sunshine is now a distant dream as his rating has dramatically plunged from 82 to 61.

Such an unceremonious fall from grace effectively condemns Atlantic Ace to extremely low-grade stuff, such as Southwell's Cashbacks Classified Stakes. The figures reveal the seven-year-old is a shadow of his former self, however he was only narrowly beaten on the sand at Wolverhampton in November and if he can maintain that mini-revival, victory is a mere formality.

* Tony Dobbin will sit out Boxing Day after deciding to switch his one-day suspension.

Dobbin picked up the ban at Musselburgh last Sunday for misuse of the whip and although the suspension would usually have been on December 26, it reverted to a day later as there is a Grade One race that day, the Stan James King George VI Chase at Kempton.

However, Dobbin has opted to switch his ban back to December 26.

He explained: ''I'll have a lot of good rides at Ayr on the Monday. Ayr has always been good to me and my trainers, Len Lungo and Nicky Richards, will probably have runners there.

''I haven't got anything in the King George and I would probably have been going to Wetherby.''

* Bookmaker and racing personality Barry Dennis will be spreading a little festive spirit at Windsor this Saturday as he is giving away thousands of Christmas puddings to racegoers.

Dennis will also be doling out Yuletide gifts at next Wednesday's Lingfield meeting, with more puddings on offer, together with a number of seasonal festivities.

* Timmy Murphy's appeal against the seven-day ban he picked up at Plumpton on Monday could be heard at the end of this week.

The in-form rider lodged an appeal with the Jockey Club yesterday and racing's regulators are hoping to resolve the matter tomorrow.

John Maxse, public relations director for the Jockey Club, said: ''We already have an appeal scheduled for that morning and we could fit him in before that so he could get to Windsor in good time if he were riding there."

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