CONFIRMED front-runner Boy's Hurrah (4.00) is going to take some catching with only a featherweight to carry on his back in the £45,000 Agfa Diamond Handicap Chase.

The extended three-mile Sandown showpiece has always been a likely target for Boy's Hurrah following his emphatic three-length course-and-distance victory at the Esher venue in early January.

Howard Johnson's emerging star has it all do on the book, because he must put up 5lbs overweight as a result of the manner with which the race is structured. However, all is not lost since in the credit column; Boy's Hurrah has unequivocally proved his ability to handle today's tough assignment set by the 22 notoriously difficult fences which need to be safely negotiated.

A little earlier on, keep a close eye out for Ashley Brook (2.50), quietly fancied to lower the colours of near certain favourite Lacdoudal.

Although Lacdoudal completed his hat-trick with a breathtaking display last weekend, he might still be vulnerable to Ashley Brook, who prior to being second to My Will at Uttoxeter, produced a sensational performance when finishing 13 seconds (equivalent to 51 lengths) ahead of his nearest rival at Newton Abbot.

Even though Martin Pipe goes in triple-handed for the £50,000 totescoop6 Handicap Hurdle, I'm not looking any farther than Liberman (3.25), the top bumper horse of the 2003 season.

Liberman's hurdling career got off to a very shaky start but a short spell in Ireland has sweetened him up no end, a factor underlined by his comprehensive defeat of Patriarch Express, who franked the form by panning a quality field at Cheltenham seven days ago.

There was the distinct smell of burnt fingers in the betting ring at Haydock in December when the 2-1 favourite, Tipsy Mouse (1.35), ran like a total duffer in a race named after one of his more illustrious stable-mates, The Last Fling Handicap Chase.

Sue Smith's dour stayer now heads for Chepstow, where he attempts to make amends in the long-distance Weatherbys Handicap Chase. Make no mistake it'll be a war of attrition in the forecast testing conditions, but if Tipsy Mouse can be forgiven his recent flop, past evidence suggests he's the one to support.

Arguably the classiest sprinter to venture out on to the all-weather circuit this winter has been Hidden Dragon, successful in the Ripon's top contest of 2004, the Great St Wilfred Handicap.

Trained by the unmistakable figure of the habitually cloth-capped Paul Blockley, Hidden Dragon spurned a winning opportunity at Southwell on Thursday by persistently hanging left all the way down the home straight.

Strange as it may seem, quite a few really decent horses have a tendency to veer off a straight line for no particular reason, so it would be unfair to consign him to the bin for that reason alone.

Whatever makes Hidden Dragon wander around, it's clearly not a physical problem and given his tremendous natural speed, success in the most valuable race on the card at Lingfield, the Gameon & bet Direct Handicap over the minimum trip of five furlongs, is the most likely outcome.

* Omni Cosmo Touch has a reputation as a tricky customer but he put his best foot forward eventually to romp home in the Watt Fences Racecourse Suppliers Handicap Hurdle at Catterick yesterday.

The nine-year-old has refused to race on a number of occasions in the past but has been better behaved lately and was reverting to hurdles after a spell over fences.

He was reluctant to set off and once under way he was far from enthusiastic, his prospects of victory in the extended-three-mile-one-furlong contest looking remote as he trailed the field.

With a circuit to go he was still at the rear of the pack and getting reminders from Dominic Elsworth, but in the back straight the Sue Smith-trained gelding took hold of his bit and quickly made up the leeway to join the leaders.

So strongly was he travelling that he was in front after the third-last, and despite running down the final flight he came home ten lengths in front of No Picnic at odds of 12-1.

The trainer's husband Harvey Smith said: ''He could really do with four miles to get him going, but he's just like that - he does the same in point-to-points.''

Elsworth added: ''It might have looked easy, but it wasn't easy at the start.''

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