DASHING jumper Large Action landed the City Trial Hurdle at Nottingham in the most significant Cheltenham pointer at the weekend as torrential rain continued to play havoc with fixtures.
More than 50 meetings have been lost this term - mainly due to waterlogging and frost - thus making it very hard for trainers to prepare their Festival contenders. And when racing has taken place, heavy ground has been the norm.
Oliver Sherwood is boxing clever with Large Action, as he has managed to avoid the big guns in the countdown to Cheltenham, and has travelled to Kelso in Scotland and Nottingham in the Midlands to give his gelding his last two runs before his main target.
Large Action, lumping 12 stone, strolled home for Jamie Osborne, but Ladbrokes representative Mike Dillon left the gelding unchanged at 6-1.
'As a Cheltenham trial this race was meaningless,' said Dillon. 'We all expected him to win the way he did. Only if he hadn't would we have changed the market leaders.' Still, Relkeel, Danoli and Fortune And Fame dominate the betting on the Smurfit Champion Hurdle, all co-favourites at 4-1. Danoli missed his intended trial at the weekend when Gowran Park was called off due to waterlogging.
There is a faint chance that the meeting will be run on Wednesday, although a final decision is not expected until sometime today.
Jenny Pitman continues to dominate the headlines as she did several seasons ago. On Saturday at Newcastle, her Willsford annihilated his rivals in the four-mile Tote Eider Chase.