AFTER a stunning three-winner Cheltenham Festival haul, the Howard Johnson bandwagon moves much nearer to home at Newcastle, where Top Style (1.40) has a great chance in the opener.

The money was down when Top Style justified favouritism in clear-cut fashion at Sedgefield in February, an imposing victory which suggested the lightly- raced seven-year-old had plenty left in the locker.

Howard has kept his gelding to a relatively low level by entering him in the 0-95 Thompkins Novices' Handicap Hurdle, a two-and-half-mile contest well within the grasp of Top Style, fancied to defy top-weight in the style of an improving horse.

John Quinn's not mucking around with the novice Don't Tell Me Derek (2.10). Even though he's only raced twice over timber he has been pitched in against some battle-hardened sorts for the feature event on the card, the cantorspreadfair.com Handicap Hurdle.

Don't Call Me Derek, no mug on the Flat, has taken to the National Hunt arena like a duck to water, winning both starts in a common canter. Precisely what he'll do when put under pressure is anyone's guess but he was as game as a pebble on the level, so hopefully will respond with similar grit if today's race turns out to be a war of attrition near the finish.

Take a tip and forget Minster Shadow's (3.45) latest flop at Chepstow, a dismal performance brought about by using far too much petrol in the first two-thirds of the contest.

Chris Grant's useful and normally ultra-consistent six-year-old needs to be ridden with far more restraint, tactics that should ensure he has some energy left in his legs up the long and gruelling Tyneside four-furlong straight.

Ten years ago it seemed impossible to envisage a £100,000 race would be run on the all-weather, but that dream has come alive at Lingfield, the venue for the Littlewoods Bet Direct Winter Derby.

The stage is set for a fantastic ten-furlong encounter, including stars such as Corriolanus, who has hot-footed back from a highly-lucrative spell in Dubai, plus recent track-and-trip scorer Counsel's Opinion (3.30).

It's hard to predict whether Corriolanus will have suffered any reaction as a result of his long plane journey from the Emirates, therefore the safer option is to give Counsel's Opinion the nod in a fascinating affair.

Chris Wall's representative endorsed some extremely solid turf-based form figures by shrugging off a 21-week absence to collect on his return to the fray five weeks ago.

Incidentally, don't be fooled by taking his relatively narrow length-and-three-quarter defeat of Eccentric at face value, since close inspection of videotape footage clearly shows he was value for well over double that distance.

Counsel's Opinion is a really tough cookie, admirably suited by hold-up tactics, a ploy for which his jockey, George Baker, has become an absolute past master at executing on a course where front-runners are generally extremely vulnerable.

Just like Corriolanus, Dancing Mystery (2.25) has been strutting his stuff at Nad Al Sheba, a fact made all the more remarkable because Eric Wheeler's inmate is 11 years of age.

Most sprinters would have packed their bags and retired to the paddocks many moons ago, however this is not the case for Dancing Mystery, still as fast as ever and entitled to an immense amount of respect for the five-furlong dash at 2.25.

l One Cool Cat is to stand his first season in the southern hemisphere at Cambridge Stud in New Zealand later this year.

The four-year-old was a top juvenile in 2003, when trained at Ballydoyle by Aidan O'Brien, winning two Group One races, the Phoenix Stakes and the National Stakes.

He failed to live up to expectations last season when a beaten favourite in the 2000 Guineas before failing to add to his Group One haul in two top sprints.

The son of Storm Cat did capture the Group Three Phoenix Sprint at the Curragh but he was only third in the Nunthorpe Stakes and sixth in the Stanley Leisure Sprint at Haydock in September.

He was retired to Coolmore Stud in Ireland after fracturing a hind leg on the gallops when being prepared for the Prix de l'Abbaye at Longchamp.

''I am delighted to have the services of such a high-class dual Group One-winning son of Storm Cat for stud duties in New Zealand to stand alongside Cambridge Stud's great line-up of stallion,'' said stud owner Sir Patrick Hogan.