MICHAEL DODS is keeping his fingers crossed for some rain as he prepares to run Le Chat D’Or on the opening day of the Flat turf season at Doncaster tomorrow.

Dods, who is based at Denton, near Piercebridge, has entered Le Chat D’Or in the Betway Spring Mile, but will only be running the seven-year-old if the ground is not too firm.

The going is currently described as good to soft, good in places, but with a dry day forecast for today, conditions could quicken markedly before the off.

Having won over a mile at Ayr towards the start of last season, Le Chat D’Or looks capable of producing a big run, and while he will inevitably come on for his first outing of the year, Dods expects the 14-1 shot to put up a bold show provided conditions are in his favour.

“As things stand, the ground is okay for him, but we wouldn’t want it to get much drier because that wouldn’t play to his strengths,” said Dods. “He was pretty consistent right through last season and, although as you would expect it’s a very competitive handicap, we’re happy for him to take his chance.

“You’d expect him to improve a lot for the run, but he’s ready to get on the racecourse. I’m not one for running horses when they’re not ready, so the fact he’s lining up shows we’re happy with him.”

Dods had also been hoping to run Kiwi Bay in the same race, but the veteran failed to make the cut so he will only have one runner on the opening day of the season.

Ideally, he would like to be running a number of horses over the next week or so, but the calendar makes it difficult for Northern flat trainers to build up a head of steam in the opening month of the campaign.

After tomorrow’s card at Doncaster, there is not another flat meeting in the North until the controversial Good Friday schedule at Musselburgh, with the first meeting in the North-East or North Yorkshire not taking place until Redcar opens its season on Easter Monday.

“It’s something that needs looking at,” said Dods. “What’s the point of getting all your horses fully tuned up for the start of the season, when there’s nowhere to run them for the best part of a fortnight?

“The calendar at this stage of the year is extremely unbalanced, and it’s the trainers in the North who miss out. There’s this big build up to the Lincoln meeting at Doncaster, and then the whole thing goes quiet until the middle of next month.”

* Read a full season preview with Michael Dods – including his thoughts on the horse that could develop into a superstar – in next Wednesday’s Talking Horses column.