PLENTY of punters will be collecting if High Finance (4.10) obliges at Musselburgh this afternoon.

Trainer John Hills is not playing games by sending his four-year-old on the long journey from Lambourn to Scotland for the Robin Cook Classified Stakes, because he knows if High Finance is in the right frame of mind she has the class to blitz the opposition.

High Finance won three times last term, including quite a valuable contest at Newbury in June. But by the same token, she also on occasions found less than expected when asked for maximum throttle near the finish of her races.

Leading jockey Kevin Darley will be fully aware of the selection's foibles and doubtless don his kid gloves to cajole the very best out of High Finance in the seven-furlong event.

In the following John Richards Memorial Stakes, it is hard to get away from Master Marvel (4.40), even though he is likely to start at very cramped odds indeed.

Master Marvel, who didn't get to the track as a juvenile, made a belated debut at Doncaster's Lincoln meeting, where he so nearly won at the first time of asking.

Despite starting at the relatively unfancied odds of 20-1, Mark Johnston's colt failed only by a head to cope with the late burst of Mick Channon's promising three-year-old, Gatwick.

It is pretty safe to assume Master Marvel will strip a whole lot fitter for the outing and with little of note among his rivals, nothing less than victory is acceptable in the one-mile-and one-furlong race.

Malton-handler John Quinn travels Time To Relax (3.20) down to Bath in search of a soft surface.

Although Time To Relax does act on top of the ground, she's palpably more effective with some juice in the turf. Forecast conditions fit the bill nicely for Quinn's filly, certain to be 100 per cent primed to win after two encouraging spins on the all-weather circuit.

Having spent years in the wilderness, Paul Eddery's fortunes have taken a turn for the good over the past 12 months.

One of the trainers responsible for Paul's much-needed revival has been Derek Haydn Jones, who puts Eddery up on United Union (4.50 in the five-furlong BBC Radio Bristol Handicap.

United Union didn't perform at all badly in a red-hot seller at Leicester seven days ago and if he can just step up a few pounds on that run, must have a leading chance in what on paper looks a relatively poor contest.

Leave the final race to Brantwood (5.20), who has the Screenchina Classified Stakes at his mercy if returning to anything like the peak of his powers.

Having plummeted free-fall down the ratings as the result of a fruitless 2003 campaign, Bryan McMahon's sprinter is now on such a low mark he is impossible to ignore

There's an excellent jumping card at Ludlow, one race in particular, the £15,000 Oakly Park Challenge Cup, taking the eye.

Ludlow is a track suited to trailblazers, therefore it was no great shock when Kind Sir (4.00) made every single yard of running to score over course and distance last time out.

Tony Carroll's progressive gelding has been bumped up several pounds in the weights as a result of the success but, while on a roll, Kind Sir could take some pegging back provided his rider, Wayne Hutchinson, uses similarly enterprising tactics.

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