JOHN DUNLOP'S runners are always to be feared at Lingfield so bookmakers will most likely be running scared of Winning Note (2.45) in the seven-furlong First Title Stakes.

Despite starting at the relatively unfancied odds of 16-1 on her seasonal reappearance at Folkestone, Winning Note made a pleasing comeback by finishing runner-up to the heavily gambled on Coppington Flyer.

Considering Gary Carter was in no hurry to move his mount into contention that day, Dunlop's filly did well to beat off her remaining 13 rivals, having spent the first half of the contest looking on from the rear of the field.

As far as investing one's hard-earned cash on Winning Note, she also has the distinct advantage of being able to claim her 3lb mares' allowance since the race is a Classified Stakes, rather than a Handicap.

Professional punters regularly latch onto such curious anomalies and in addition if the Dunlop camp decide to lace up their betting boots, an avalanche of cash could well mean the local layers on the rails are in for an unwelcome pounding should Winning Note oblige.

It is always frustrating for trainers when their horses are raised in the weights without actually winning.

Such a scenario surrounds Override (3.15), up 3lb for twice finishing second earlier this season. Newmarket handler James Eustace will not be happy about the situation, although the Official Handicapper's assessment could well be vindicated if the three-year-old lands the most valuable race on the card, the £10,000 Tote Exacta Showcase Handicap.

Cynics will point to Override's latest dire flop at York, but closer examination of the form shows he had to carry a significant amount of overweight, as well as taking on a far higher standard of opposition.

Occasionally when drawn low on the straight track at Lingfield it can pay to make a beeline for the far rail.

Whether or not Robert Winston opts to use this tactic aboard Musical Fair (3.45) emerging from stall number one remains to be seen.

But wherever he decides to steer Jeremy Glover's raider, the combination seem sure to take a hand in the finale of the six-furlong Lingfield Park Handicap.

Very few of the 20 runners appear to be on good terms with themselves, a remark I hasten to add which does not apply to Musical Fair, a perfectly respectable third over the same distance at Catterick last Friday.

The daughter of Piccolo was piling on the pressure at the end of that event and in view of the fact that Glover has chosen to run her again so soon after, the filly has clearly has come out of the race none the worse for those exertions.

Best bet at the days' only other meeting is Clarendon (2.00) in the opening Canal Conditional Jockey's Claiming Hurdle at Newton Abbot.

The Philip Hobbs-trained hurdler was the subject of a massive punt to win the always-competitive Imperial Cup at Sandown during the winter. He failed abysmally and Clarendon's subsequent fall from grace to this lowly affair suggests he does have some sort of physical problem.

Even so I doubt if he has deteriorated to the level where he cannot give his modest looking rivals a good hiding in the Class F two-mile-and-one-furlong race.

* There was drama in the closing stages of yesterday evening's feature race at Thirsk when the eventual winner, Hambleden, and runner-up King's Consul, were involved in a protracted barging match inside the final furlong of the Herriot Happening Handicap.

Only a short-head divided them and the Stewards interviewed both jockeys, Philip Robinson and Jamie Spencer, before allowing the result to stand.

Claire Sparks, Travelling Head Manager to Newmarket trainer Michael Jarvis, said: "Hambleden deserved that, he's a very game horse and hard to pass in a finish."

Hambleden, who invariably seems to run well on his visits to Yorkshire, was justifying favouritism for the near £10,000 prize, having previously been touched off in a valuable handicap on the Knavesmire last month.

There were fireworks in the auction after the victory of Crewes Miss Isle in the opening six-furlong Swale Fillies Selling Stakes.

Trained just a few miles from the course atop Sutton Bank by Kevin Ryan, Crewes Miss Isle lived up to her name by bombing out her rivals with a blistering turn of foot to win by four lengths.

"She was suited by the step-up to six furlongs," declared Ryan, who then saw the horse sold to race out of Melton Mowbray trainer John Harris's yard for 13,000 guineas.

Ryan, and jockey Fergal Lynch, went on to complete a short-priced double when the well-backed 10-11 shot Allegrina scraped home by a head in the Carleton Furniture Group Maiden Stakes.

Sandwiched between the wins of Crewes Miss Isle and Allegrina, there was yet more local success when Quito, trained by David Chapman at Stillington, produced a power-packed finish under Tony Culhane to claim the seven furlong Skybet Classified Stakes.

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