LONG-PRICED winners will likely be the order of the day at Nottingham where testing conditions are bound to create a few upsets as the horses struggle to cope with the mud.

In these circumstances assiduous attention to previous form is even more vital than usual to unearth such golden nuggets as Sriology (4.15), a lively outsider for the one-mile See You In 2006 Handicap.

George Prodromou's gelding strung together a brace of soft-surface successes earlier on this year, but has not been at his best of late since the ground dried up significantly during the summer months.

Thankfully the rain has finally come for Sriology, who with the vastly underrated Chris Cavanagh taking a handy 7lbs off the selection's back, has a great chance of trouncing some better fancied rivals.

Huntingdon's marathon three-mile-and-two-furlongs closing Handicap Hurdle sees the much-awaited reappearance of Heir To Be (3.20).

Lucy Wadham's six-year-old made a fantastic start to his jumps' career last season, not once finishing out of the first two. His consistency was rewarded by a facile victory at Warwick in December, an inaugural win which impressed many a good judge within the National Hunt ranks.

Heir To Be has relatively few miles on the clock compared to the majority of his opponents, goes particularly well when fresh, and on all known evidence is near-certain to be a leading player for the £7,000 contest.

Much earlier on in proceedings, Wadham's stable might well have initiated a double if as expected Resplendent Star (1.10) does the business in the opening Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle.

The former track and trip scorer is on something of a retrieval mission having finished runner-up on both of his most recent couple of outings, defeats that at least demonstrate the eight-year-old has lost little or none of his old sparkle.

Eleven days ago at Chepstow's latest meeting, Anflora and Billy Ballbreaker fought out a memorable course and distance duel in which the former prevailed after a long and protracted battle.

Billy Ballbreaker is now 4lbs better for that length-and-a-quarter reverse, nonetheless I don't believe it'll be sufficient to turn the tables against Anflora, sure to be once again expertly handled by the incomparable Tom Doyle.

l A globe-trotting horse is taking a well-earned holiday at home after galloping to success around the world, writes JOE WILLIS.

Collier Hill was due to travel to Australia to compete in yesterday's famous Melbourne Cup.

But Alan Swinbank, who trains at Melsonby, near Richmond, North Yorkshire, decided against flying the horse on the 10,000 mile trip - deciding it was a long haul too far.

"We weren't too disappointed. If you go, you have to give 105 per cent," said Swinbank, whose horse won the Irish St Leger in September.

"You have to be spot-on and we felt that after the St Leger he wasn't quite there."

The Melbourne Cup was won for the third time in a row by Makybe Diva.

l Jamie Spencer and Hambleton trainer Kevin Ryan enjoyed a short trip to France as Balthazaar's Gift landed the Group Two Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte yesterday.

The champion jockey-elect brought the juvenile with a strong run to beat local hope Gwenseb by a neck, with the Ian Semple-trained Curtail two and a half lengths back in third. Manston, sent over by Brian Meehan, was sixth, with Mick Channon's BA Foxtrot finishing last of the ten.