THE cards are very much stacked in favour of Brag (2.35) for this afternoon's £14,000 Hertel Nursery at Thirsk.

The five-furlong sprint has attracted some promising juveniles, including unbeaten Newmarket raider Key Secret, but it is Brag who appears to hold all the aces judged strictly on the merits of her recent Leicester success, where she lugged a big weight to victory in a very fast time.

Royal trainer Roger Charlton doesn't normally bother sending his horses so far north from his Lambourn stronghold, therefore the fact he's prepared to take this option probably means the filly has been bucking and squealing at home in sheer desperation for a racecourse outing.

Tim Easterby might finally have found the right opportunity for Most Definitely in the closing two-mile Richmond Castle Handicap.

Most Definitely (4.55) had the misfortune to finish in second place six times in row towards the end of last season and, to rub salt in the wound, he then filled the same position on his 2004 reappearance at Carlisle.

As far as his handicap mark is concerned, Most Definitely has been far too consistent for his own good and as a direct consequence has fought a losing battle against the permanent lump of lead under his saddle.

To try to reverse the trend, Easterby has decided to put on board his talented apprentice Tony Mullen, who takes an invaluable 7lb off Most Definitely's back.

Easterby has excellent prospects of completing an across-the-card double courtesy of Jeepstar (3.25) in the mile-and-a-quarter Lawshall Handicap at Newmarket.

Jeepstar was conveniently dropped a good few pounds following his three dismal runs during the early part of the year. He was then rested for a few weeks, a short holiday which, with the benefit of hindsight, did him the world of good in view of his back-to-form performance when runner-up at Ayr 11 days ago.

Baking hot temperatures at Newmarket is music to the ears of Chris Thornton, in with a great shout of claiming the last at headquarters with Savannah River (5.10).

She's a big, honest sort of filly who was all at sea in the mud over a marathon trip at Beverley last time out. Now returning to 12 furlongs on her preferred fast ground, the time is right for Savannah River to take the bookies to the cleaners.

Godolphin have enjoyed a fairly glorious Goodwood and they likely haven't finished yet with both Echoes Of Eternity (3.05) and Zosima entered in the £200,000 Group 1 Nassau Stakes.

Stable jockey Frankie Dettori has plumped to ride the expensive USA import Zosima, who made a passable enough British debut when third to Celtic Heroine at Royal Ascot.

Choosing between two such high-class horses is never easy and it would be wrong to write-off Echoes Of Eternity, a filly possessing guaranteed stamina, unlike the confirmed miler Zosima.

Alan Dickman's Propellor (7.20), who hurtled down the Hamilton hill to get off the mark a couple of weeks ago, goes back to the Scottish track this evening for a stab at the Robert Wiseman Nursery.

The son of Pivotal is suddenly looking like a super-shrewd purchase for only 19,000 guineas.

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