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.

* Tyneandthyneagain is set to bid for a big-race triumph on successive Saturdays by turning out for the Agfa Diamond Handicap Chase at Sandown, writes KEITH HAMER.

The nine-year-old gelding has come out of his victory in the Skybet Handicap Chase on stamina-sapping ground Doncaster last Saturday in such good form that his trainer Richard Guest has no worries about running him again so quickly.

''He is so well that you wouldn't know he'd had a race,'' said Guest.

Tyneandthyneagain made light of the soft ground at Doncaster to score by six lengths from Magical Bailiwick in the race formerly known as the Great Yorkshire.

The horse thrives on racing and Guest is keen to capitalise on the gelding's love of soft ground.

''As he loves his racing, we are likely to go for any decent three-mile-plus chases on soft ground,'' added the trainer.

Tyneandthyneagain has been raised 14lb by the handicapper for his victory last Saturday and has been given 11st 5lb in the £50,000 contest over an extended three miles at Sandown.

His main target could be the Martell Cognac Grand National, which Guest won as a jockey on Red Marauder in desperate conditions three years ago.

Tyneandthyneagain, who has been handed 10st 5lb, is generally a 33-1 chance for the National.

l Irish star Beef Or Salmon has been ruled out of a repeat bid at Sunday's Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup at Leopardstown.

The eight-year-old took the Grade One event by four lengths last year but finished a well-beaten third to Best Mate last time out in the Ericsson Chase.

''He doesn't run on Sunday as he has a little muscular problem on his hind quarter. I'm just not satisfied that he is 110 per cent,'' trainer Michael Hourigan said.

The gelding fell at the third fence in last year's Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup and has been trained with another crack at the blue riband in mind.