DRYING ground should help Dazzling Bay (3.15) bounce back to his best in feature event at Beverley today, the five-furlong £14,000 Violet & Eddie Memorial Stales.

Following a fabulously successful 2003 campaign when Tim Easterby's sprinter mopped up the best part of £102,000, Dazzling Bay has in the main been a bitter disappointment so far this term.

It is hard to pinpoint the exact reason for the poor performances of the selection, however I'm sure this afternoon's sound surface will be to his advantage, as well as the fact that Tim's team are sparkling at present after something of a mid-season lull.

Such is the excellent form of Sharplaw Star (2.40) she should by rights easily justify a predicted skinny starting price for the Children In Need Novice Stakes.

The Willie Haggas-trained filly landed some hefty bets when scoring impressively on her debut at Leicester in May, prior to taking her chance in the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot in June.

The Ascot contest represented a considerable step up in class for Sharplaw Star, but she was by no means caught out-of-her-depth, finishing a perfectly respectable third in one of hottest two-year-old fillies' races run all year.

Although Alan King is far better known for his exploits in the National Hunt sphere, he's desperately trying to expand his operation and make an impact on the flat.

To this end King has persuaded some of his owners to invest in some younger and quicker stock, including the promising two-year-old, Penny Island (4.30), who bids to open his account at Newmarket.

Penny Island rather spoilt his prospects by sweating and getting very revved up in the preliminaries at Goodwood last time out. Nevertheless he still managed to bag third spot under a kind ride, and given that the handicapper has not been overly harsh, an each-way interest is recommended in the one-mile UAE Equestrian Federation Nursery.

For the closing Robinsons Mercedes-Benz Nursery, The Pheasant Flyer (5.00) is fancied to confirm the improvement shown at Warwick a fortnight ago.

It is true that Brian Meehan's colt was all-out to hold on by a short-head, nonetheless he still beat some useful foes and backers can be confident the switch back from seven to six furlongs will suit.

l Racing was abandoned before the final race at Kempton yesterday because of unsafe ground.

A total of 2mm of rain fell an hour before racing took place on the Sunbury track, although there were few problems in the first five events. But when Larkwing and Hasty Prince fell independently half a mile from home in the 12-furlong Renault Kangoo Van EBF Classified Stakes, an inspection was called and racing abandoned.