WHEN Mark Pitman and Timmy Murphy team up it normally spells big trouble for the opposition.

The deadly duo are on duty at Ascot this afternoon, where Pitman has once again asked Murphy to do the steering aboard Hot Shots (3.10), an impressive six-length scorer over course and distance in October.

As he so often does, Timmy sat as quiet as a church mouse that day, goading his rivals into a false sense of security. Little did they know he was literally sitting on a powder keg and when he asked Hot Shots to accelerate, the response was explosive as the combination powered well clear of the toiling opposition.

Murphy might also be on to a good thing in the preceding race partnering The Bandit (2.05).

Just like Hot Shot, The Bandit was seen to tremendous effect on his last visit to the Berkshire venue, routing a seemingly useful bunch of fellow novice hurdlers by ten lengths.

On that evidence Emma Lavelle's six-year-old cannot be opposed, even though he incurred a 7lb penalty for that scintillating success.

Exeter-bound Excellent Vibes (4.00) has the opportunity to atone for an unexpected reverse at Haydock in October.

Favourite-backers had their fingers burnt that day when Nigel Twiton-Davies' representative failed to respond to his rider's urgings on ground which was perhaps in hindsight a little too lively.

With plenty of rain forecast, underfoot conditions are now predicted to be much more to the liking of Excellent Vibes in the two-mile-and-three-quarter Discover Racing Novices' Handicap.

Few trainers work harder than Bryan Smart, whose decision to have Bond Romeo (1.20) gelded during the early part of the autumn is fancied to pay off in the Bet Direct Nursery at Wolverhampton.

The removal of a colt's wedding tackle regularly brings about a turnaround in fortunes and so it was at Redcar recently, where Bond Romeo made a welcome return to form, quite probably as a result of his encounter with the surgeon's knife.

Prior to that outing, when still in possession of his full faculties, Bond Romeo had rather lost his way, however the horse he chased home at Redcar, Great Fox, is reckoned to be quite useful, putting Smart's raider in with a major shout for today's five-furlong dash.

In the later division 2 of the Sky Text Handicap, Its Ecco Boy (4.10) must be given another chance following a bitterly disappointing effort at Lingfield last week.

Taking jockeys to task really is not my style, nevertheless pilot error contributed in no small way to the defeat of Its Ecco Boy. Quite why the normally reliable apprentice David Kinsella chose to blast out of the stalls and use far too much petrol early on is beyond comprehension.

The result was utterly predictable, with the fuel gauge needle dropping to zero in the home straight as Its Ecco Boy weakened right out of contention. Kinsella has now been replaced by David Nolan, whom let's hope will do better by adopting far more patient tactics on the selection.

* Janus (Colin Woods) made it two winning naps in a row at Hereford yesterday when the 2-1 favourite, Lord Of The Hill, recorded a pillar-to-post success.

* Catterick racecourse is opening its doors at 8.45am tomorrow for those racegoers who would like to watch England versus Australia in the Rugby World Cup Final.

The match will be shown in the Gods Solution Bar, where refreshments will be available from 9am.

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