THERE'S a strong case to be made for Musselburgh-bound Artie (3.50) in the Gerard Nursery Handicap this afternoon.

Tim Easterby's two-year-olds are in irresistible form at present recording victories with both Raphael and Travelling Times at Ripon and York over the weekend.

And there could easily be more to come because Artie is potentially better than either of that pair judged on his highly-impressive pillar-to-post success at Chester in May.

The speedy colt's long absence probably needn't be of concern - in fact he'll more than likely have improved with the benefit of time to develop over his long summer holiday.

Another trainer enjoying plenty of good fortune at present is the Lincolnshire-based handler James Given.

He recently acquired Golden Symbol (4.50), who immediately stepped up on previous efforts at Warwick by finishing fifth in a reasonable standard maiden won by the odds-on favourite, Toffee Nosed.

Golden Symbol was a totally unconsidered 100-1 shot at the Midlands track, but we'll be lucky if she goes off at a tenth of that price in Division One of the Whitelaw Handicap.

In the Second Division of the contest, I quite like the chances of John Quinn's Foreign Editor (5.20).

Formerly trained by Kevin Ryan, Foreign Editor was having his first run for the yard when keeping on strongly at the death to grab fifth spot at Catterick 18 days ago.

Malton-based Quinn has fair prospects of initiating an across-the-card double at Yarmouth marginally earlier in the day courtesy of Frandaneil (4.40) in the Somerton Selling Nursery.

The juvenile filly is one of the least exposed platers in the event, posting her best performance to date at Thirsk last time when fourth to Florrie Nightingale over seven furlongs.

She showed a good deal of dash from a poor draw that day so the drop back in trip to six furlongs could prove to be Frandaneil's optimum distance.

Gary Moore's yard is just a stone's throw from Brighton racecourse and not surprisingly he does pretty well on home turf.

Shaman lines up for Moore (3.30) in the Doug's Three Angels Handicap having hinted at return to form when third to Lago Di Como over track and trip last week.

On that occasion the four-year-old gelding was amateur-ridden and actually spoilt things by pulling far too hard throughout the first half of the race, as a consequence of which he has nothing left in the tank at the business end of the race.

Resident stable apprentice jockey Ian Mongan now takes over in the saddle on Shaman, a move expected to do the trick in the 0-70 mile-and-a-quarter contest.

No less than three horses, Hout Bay (5.00), Danakim, and Chairman Bobby, travel from Middleham to Brighton in an attempt to capture Florida Classified Stakes worth a miserable £3,100 in total.

No doubt the main attraction is the "appearance money" for running in such races and of the trio, Hout Bay (5.00), already a winner on one of his previous forays to the south coast, and successful at Catterick last Wednesday, gets the nod.

l Janus landed a near 15-1 double at Hamilton yesterday when both the nap, Tony Tie (9-4), and next best selection, Marjurita (4-1), obliged.

l Minardi and Mull Of Kintyre have emerged as Aidan O'Brien's most likely runners in the £150,000 Stanley Leisure Sprint Cup at Haydock on Saturday.

The Ballydoyle trainer was responsible for eight of the 23 five-day confirmations for the six-furlong Group One event at the Merseyside track. And it had been expected that King Charlemagne would lead the assault on the Haydock prize following his victory in the Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville three weeks ago, but he may not take his chance.

''Minardi and Mull of Kintyre are the most likely runners,'' revealed O'Brien. ''King Charlemagne won his Group One last time and we'd like to let the others try for theirs. I don't see the six furlongs as a problem for Minardi.''