Rodalko worth a flutter

Oliver Sherwood's six-year-old destroyed a quality field at Ludlow two days ago prompting the trainer to declare: "The horse really pleased me. He's fresh and well after his mid-winter break and I think he's ready for a bigger track like Doncaster."

Clearly not afraid of such a short gap between races, Sherwood is making hay while the sun shines with Rodalko, who jumped like the proverbial stag to secure his fourth success from his last five starts just 48 hours ago.

And Oliver wasn't the only person getting excited about Rodalko's prospects. "He went up 16lbs for his penultimate win, but that didn't halt him at Ludlow and who knows when he's going to stop progressing, the Scottish National is now a possibility," said jockey Jimmy McCarthy.

The main danger to Rodalko's superiority may well emerge from the top-weight, Grey Abbey, who stormed back to form with an all-the-way win over hurdles at Catterick in February.

Grey Abbey was once talked about in Cheltenham Gold Cup terms and now that trainer Howard Johnson seems to have the gelding's career back on track, he could conceivably expose any chinks in Rodalko's armoury.

Due to the current dry spell the ground is beginning to dry up at an alarming rate of knots, but one trainer not likely to complain is Chris Thornton, responsible for Reno (4.50) in the Yorkshire Novices' Handicap Hurdle.

Reno's stamina has been called into question on more than one occasion, having often moved up like a winner, only to fade when the heat was on in the final stages.

She will surely benefit from the less testing underfoot conditions, plus help on offer courtesy of the promising young pilot Garry Berridge, able to take a further 7lb off the filly's back.

The big bucks on offer at Kelso revolve around the outcome of the £30,000 Tote Exacta Premier Hurdle, a Class A event attracting a host of up-and-coming northern-based timber merchants.

Three of the field, Chivalry, Steppes Of Gold, plus Dr Sharp, put their unbeaten records on the line. Chivalry, snapped up by Graham Wylie after winning last year's Cambridgeshire, was well below par when scraping home at the course in January, however in reality he's still the class act in the line-up and gets the vote.

Steppes Of Gold didn't register a very good time when scoring over course and distance at the same meeting, while the going was hock deep for Dr Sharp's win, a factor seemingly crucial to that particular triumph.

Hair-raising is an apt description of Argento's method when it comes to jumping steeplechase obstacles. Having parted company with his rider on his most recent couple of outings, some might say recommending a small wager on George Moore's gelding deserves short shrift.

None the less for those brave souls like me who enjoy the cut and thrust of jump racing, I firmly believe there is a decent prize to be taken with Argento, because when he gets it right the result is breathtaking.

Anyone witnessing the manner of his victory at Catterick in December couldn't fail to be impressed, and he was after all ten lengths clear and still going great guns when capsizing at Newcastle the time after that.

Finally to Huntingdon where Great Travel (3,15) is strongly fancied to complete his hat-trick in the Betonline Handicap Chase.

The Paul Nicholls-trained two miler created a favourable impression when hacking up at Sandown under a super waiting-ride from the massively under utilised Bobby McNally.

Since Nicholls has such strength-in-depth amongst his young chasing division, Great Travel has not really gained the plaudits he deserves.

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