COUNTDOWN presenter Richard Whiteley's venture into racehorse ownership might well be all set to pay dividends with Twice Nightly (3.50) at Catterick today.

Word play and number crunching on the hugely popular afternoon Channel 4 gameshow are Whiteley's normal modus operandi, however he does have a soft-spot for horses, an ideal hobby since he lives just a few miles outside of Middleham where Twice Nightly is trained by James Bethell.

Whiteley's two-year-old began his career brightly enough when third at Thirsk, and while he hasn't as yet built on that promising debut, the gelding has still performed creditably enough at Ripon and Carlisle.

The form of his latest outing has worked out quite nicely, which along with the step up in trip to seven furlongs provides sufficient encouragement to warrant a small each-way investment on Twice Nightly in the £7,000 Darlington Operatic Society Nursery.

In the closing Willie Carson Apprentice Handicap, Sovereign State (5.20) has a great chance of recording his second track and trip victory within the space of three weeks.

Rookie handler David Thompson has done exceptionally well with the seven-year-old, picking up a string of handicap hurdles, prior to triumphantly switching his charge to the level at the backend of June.

Sovereign State has subsequently run a solid race at Warwick and in terms of ability and consistency must be regarded as one of the leading contenders for the mile-and-a-half contest.

Not for the first time a gelding operation had the desired effect on Ile Facile (4.30), who responded in kind by making all to collect under a great ride by Joe Fanning.

Joe is on duty at Catterick for his boss Mark Johnston, however no worries about his replacement, Kevin Darley, for Lingfield's EMH Handicap. Now that Ile Facile's mind is fully focussed on the job in hand, rather than mooning over the fillies, he is precisely the type of progressive three-year-old to run up a sequence.

To my way of thinking the value bet at Leicester's evening meeting is Miss Judgement (8.30) in the Fillies Handicap.

Miss Judgement had the sort of nightmare passage guaranteed to give any trainer bad dreams when twice badly hampered at the course on her penultimate outing. It is also possible to forgive her latest flop at Lingfield where the slick six-furlong downhill track did not suit her style of running.

Previously Willie Muir's raider had won pulling the proverbial cart over six furlongs at Nottingham, shaping for all the world as if she would be ideally suited by tonight's longer distance.

Reigning champion jockey Kieren Fallon is striving manfully to keep his nearest pursuer, Darryll Holland, at bay.

Both Fallon and Holland are going for the double-headers at Lingfield and Sandown, but it is the champ who I reckon will get the better of the argument with fancied rides on Raza Cab (2.00) and Grandalea (3.00) at the first-named venue, followed by Kingsholm (6.40) and Secret Flame (7.45).

l Former champion jockey Kevin Darley, Eddie Ahern and apprentice Chris Ely were fortunate to escape serious injury in a frightening pile-up on the home turn in the Sharp Minds Betfair : Back And Lay Classified Stakes at Ayr yesterday, writes RAY GILPIN.

Ely's mount Rosselli appeared to clip the heels of another horse and crashed heavily to the ground, and as a result Atlantic Quest (Darley) and Manaar (Ahern) came down.

Sadly, Rosselli sustained a broken hind leg and was put down. Ely sustained an ankle injury and was taken to Ayr Hospital for X-rays.

Meanwhile, Michael Dods is making hay both on and off course and he struck again when Zhitomir (13-2), won the Sharp Minds Betfair Selling Stakes in the hands of Shane Kelly.

Kelly drove Zhitomir (retained without a bid) up on the rails to collar Kieren Fallon's mount Zahunda in the closing stages and beat him by half a length. This was Dods's 19th winner of the season, but he was at his Denton-near-Darlington base, gathering in the hay.