OPPOSING Overstrand has proved a costly business so far this season on account of the fact that Mary Reveley's rising star has simply brushed aside his opponents on all four starts.

Having already pocketed around £40,000, connections might easily have opted to give Overstrand (2.20) a mid-winter break, but with another £60,000 up for grabs in the Ladbrokes Hurdle at Ascot, who can blame them for continuing to strike while the iron is still hot?

Speaking for the syndicate that own Overstrand, FF Racing Services, Keith Sobey said: " Overstrand would prefer a bit more cut, good to soft ground would be ideal."

Sobey's wishes depend very much on whether the forecast rain arrives overnight, although the fact that the four-year-old acted well on a fast surface when campaigned on the Flat is of considerable comfort.

The rapid ascent of Reveley's raider from average performer to verging on top-class is one of those unexplainable conundrums that make horse racing such a fascinating sport.

Whatever the reason - and, for the record, his sire, In The Wings, does tend to produce late-maturing types - Overstrand took on and destroyed some of the best the southern big guns had to offer at Sandown last time out.

A repeat of that effort would put the gelding firmly in line for yet another substantial pot, with the added bonus of becoming a serious candidate for next year's Cheltenham Festival, should his owners decide to take the route reserved for budding champions.

In the cantorsport.co.uk Silver Cup, Behrajan (1.45) bids to retain the trophy he so valiantly plundered 12 months ago.

It was a typically barnstorming run from Henry Daly's giant, Richard Johnson setting sail for home fully a mile out and then hanging on for dear life in a thrilling three-way photo-finish with Ruby Walsh and Tony McCoy both snapping at his heels.

In France they tend to school and race their horses over fences much earlier than in the UK, hence Nicky Henderson's decision to go chasing with his exciting import from across the channel, Lilium de Cotte (2.55).

At the tender age of four most trainers would be wary of such a daring ploy, however, after acquiring an untenably high handicap rating when previously trained by French ace Guy Macaire, chasing was perhaps Henderson's best option.

The gamble has thus far paid off for Lilium de Cotte, who scored in convincing fashion on his first try over the bigger obstacles at Uttoxeter 23 days ago.

Henderson's youngster now faces a far sterner test in the valuable Noel Novices' Chase, an examination he is expected to pass with flying colours.

There's at least one decent betting opportunity worth scrutinising at Warwick, where Spring Pursuit (12.55) deserves more than a second look.

Richard Price's representative moved up menacingly at Sandown this month only to blunder away his chance with a heart-stopping mistake at the second-last flight.

Normally a pretty reliable jumper, Spring Pursuit is poised for success in the Oak Tree Mitsubishi Handicap Hurdle, as long as he tidies up his act over the eight flights of hurdles to be negotiated.

Nothing to make the spine tingle at Hereford, although that is not to say Sharvie (2.00) won't oblige at potentially rewarding odds in the lowly Class F Conditional Jockeys' Novices' Handicap Hurdle.

Come the end of this three-mile-and-two-furlong slog, not too many will have the stomach to keep galloping, Sharvie hopefully being the one exception.

Alan O'Keeffe's mount was cruelly touched off by a neck over an identical distance at Southwell in July, proving beyond all reasonable doubt he has the mettle to get the job done.

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