sprinters often improve with age so I am hopeful Ashdown Express (2.50) can take today's feature event at Newmarket, the Group 3 Bentinck Stakes over six furlongs.

Christian Wall's powerhouse is the personification of the perfect thoroughbred, rippling from head to toe with muscles.

He can take a while to build up a head of steam, and it was that failure to gather enough early momentum which prevented Ashdown Express springing a 50-1 surprise at Ascot last time. He was finished like a rocket to take fourth spot in the Group 2 Diadem Stakes.

Considering the selection had the likes of The Tatling and Airwave behind, it was without doubt a lifetime best run and the signs are that he is about to gain a first well-deserved success in a Group contest.

Punters joining in the wholesale gamble on Uhoomagoo (3.25) at Newcastle recently were subjected to a terrible sinking feeling after the field had only travelled a couple of furlongs. Even at that early stage Kevin Ryan's gelding was hopelessly tailed off.

With luck the scenario will not be repeated in the £12,000 Showcase Handicap and provided those who did their dough at the Tyneside track give the five-year-old another chance there is a strong possibility they will get their money back with interest.

Having looked dead and buried with a furlong to go, I was very impressed by the manner Tour de Force rallied to deny Start Over at Musselburgh in September. Despite the fact the race was run in a fantastically quick time, the Official Handicapper was not impressed, putting up the Willie Hagges-trained four-year-old by just 1lb.

Such overt generosity represents a rare act of largesse and should not be spurned, especially as today's much more testing course will help rather than hinder Tour de Force (4.35) in the one-mile Jim White Handicap.

Kevin Darley sidesteps the glamour meeting at headquarters to take advantage of some much easier pickings at Redcar.

Darley's day out at the seaside should be rewarded with at least three winners in the shape of Atlantic City (1.30), Bread Of Heaven (3.10), and Triplemoon (3.45).

The first two are no more than penalty kicks - neither should Triplemoon be opposed, having won his last two races over course and distance.

The skybetvegas.com Handicap is a wide-open heat as far as betting goes, although I'm still sweet on Old Bailey (4.55), whose trainer David Barron had a double at Southwell yesterday. Unlike most of his opponents, he will not be inconvenienced by the ultra-fast ground.

* Tout Seul has been withdrawn from both of his provisional weekend engagements after scoping badly.

The Emirates Airline Champion Stakes or the Newmarket Darley Stakes had been on the agenda for last year's Dewhurst winner, but connections are now undecided about future plans.

The trainer's daughter, Eve Johnson Houghton, said: ''We may possibly go to Hong Kong at the end of the year, but we'll see. It's not a definite plan.''

The three-year-old has been mixing it with the best this season, and put his best foot forward when fourth in the Sagitta 2000 Guineas.