PETER MONTEITH'S stable has hit form with a vengeance over the past couple of weeks, pointing directly to prospects of both Colorado Falls (2.50) and Encore Cadoudal (3.50) at Kelso today.

Starting at odds 100-1, precious few punters fancied the chances of Colorado Falls when he returned from a long absence at the course three weeks ago. But much to the consternation of the crowd and connections alike, the six-year-old went within three lengths of overhauling Chivalry, who has been talked about as a possible Cheltenham Champion Hurdle contender.

There seemed to be no fluke about the performance, which is less surprising than one might think because when trained on the Flat by Henry Cecil in 2001, Colorado Falls attained a heady rating of 96.

If the figures stack up correctly, Monteith's six-year-old should technically have a few pounds in hand over his rivals, and is duly expected to oblige in the GGBet.com Handicap Hurdle.

At the same meeting, Encore Cadoudal justified 5/4 favouritism by romping to an easy course-and-distance success, pulling well clear of the opposition once he had safely negotiated the final flight.

Although set to carry a 6lb penalty for that facile victory, it would be unrealistic to expect such a small rise in the weights to have a dramatic effect on his potential to follow up in the Andrew Hamilton Novices Hurdle.

In between those two races, the feature event on the card, the £12,000 Persimmon Homes Handicap Chase, has the name Curly Spencer (3.20) written all over it.

Andrew Parker's gelding made giant strides last term, winning three slightly less competitive contests on the bounce. It has taken a little more time for Curly Spencer to get his eye in for the current campaign but he shaped far more encouragingly at Wetherby recently, signalling a return to the winners' enclosure was imminent.

In the closing Members Handicap Chase, On The Luce (4.20) will surely take advantage of a supreme act of largesse by the official handicapper, who only saw fit to put him up 8lb after his emphatic triumph at Newcastle in January. Pauline Robson's former point-to-point scorer appears to be a progressive type and so long as jockey Richard McGrath keeps the partnership intact, a second success under Rules is there for the taking.

Quantity rather than quality is the order of the day at Southwell. If you are tempted to have a flutter, the steadily improving Royal Grand (2.00) is a confident nap selection in the six-furlong Bet Direct Handicap.

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