SAVILE'S DELIGHT (1.20) should not be overlooked, despite the burden of shouldering top-weight in division one of the Bet Direct Handicap at Wolverhampton.

The five-furlong Class F contest is by its own definition not a strong race. Indeed many of the participants are little better than selling platers these days, but that is not a comment applicable to Savile's Delight, who was campaigned at tracks such as York and Ascot last summer on turf.

Admittedly it turned out that trainer Roy Brotherton was flying a little high in such company, but he correctly spotted that the colt had ability when snapping up Savile's Delight for the bargain-basement price of 4,800 guineas after he'd won a seller at Catterick in July.

The nap selection's subsequent all-weather form has been mixed, but he proved he can handle the surface when touched off by a gnat's whisker in a nail-biting finish over six furlongs at the track last time out.

Brotherton's ploy of bringing his charge back to the minimum trip is a trifle risky, although by my reckoning he's the class act in the field, and if Ian Mongan's mount doesn't get outpaced in the early stages the race is there for the taking.

After a wretched 2003 turf campaign, Scarcroft, nearLeeds, handler Richard Whitaker enjoyed a welcome change of luck when Mynd (1.50) got his head in front over track and trip three weeks ago.

Mynd appears to be quite a late-developing sprinter and with the help of that confidence-boosting win, a second success is by no means a forlorn hope.

David Barron has targeted his useful three-year-old, Countrywide Flyer (3.25), at the feature event on the card, the £12,000 Littlewoods Conditions Stakes over an extended mile.

The record book states that Barron's rapidly-improving raider won by five lengths on his latest visit to the track, but the bare statistics do not take into account the fact that jockey Jamie Spencer eased his mount considerably in the closing stages.

With Spencer applying the anchors prior to the finishing line, it was all the more remarkable that the combination still managed to clock a lightning fast time.

Taking all the evidence into account, it might prove folly to oppose Countrywide Flyer, a young horse with a highly promising future.

Folkestone's jumps fixture hinges on a 7.30am inspection, a smattering of snow plus forecast frost threatening to prevent any action at the Kent venue.

If by chance there is a sudden thaw, all eyes will be on Cheltenham Festival contender, Our Vic (2.10), expected to sluice up in the Kelly's Boy Celebration Novices' Chase.

* ITS ECCO BOY, headlined and napped in yesterday's column, did the business at Southwell for Janus (Colin Woods). The 5-1 clear-cut winner boosted our top tipster's profit to £15.72 for a level £1 stake during the month of January.

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