It's always a source of bafflement that, in an age where they can send a probe to Mars or some other far-flung corner of the Galaxy, nothing can be done to prevent a large dose of rain, frost or snow from causing total chaos throughout the country.

In racing, even the all-weather meetings that are designed to keep the show on the road are far from infallible when it comes to extremes of weather - a fact that was perfectly illustrated at Lingfield on Saturday.

While three scheduled National Hunt meetings for today have already been lost, temperatures are rising and that means punters in this country are almost certain to be back in business this afternoon for the first time since last Thursday.

At Southwell there is a cracking card in prospect and Richard Hannon, who is leading the trainers' list on sand this winter, can be on the mark again with the consistent Diamond Geezer in the Arena Leisure plc Handicap over five furlongs.

There haven't been many more competitive races staged at Southwell over this trip and the five-year-old comes here in top form, having run creditably in a couple of good handicaps over this trip at Wolverhampton and he proved he still had the winning habit when scoring in a Lingfield claimer last time.

The pace here looks sure to be fast and furious and my selection, who usually travels well through his races, should be able to pounce whenever his jockey chooses in the last furlong and a half.

His stall draw looks a reasonable one as he's drawn close to a couple of very speedy sorts and he's taken to beat Nick Littmoden's Peruvian Chief, who ran well over six furlongs at this course last time on his first run after an absence.

Hannon fields Culzean for the similarly competitive Bet Direct On 0800 211 222 Handicap over a mile but this trip is a bare minimum for him and he's passed over as he's 5lb higher in the weights than when winning at Wolverhampton over an extended nine furlongs last time.

The selection and the bet of the day is Mick Ryan's Young-Un, who has won two of his three outings over this course and distance and did absolutely nothing wrong when second to today's rival Jorrocks here last time.

He's weighted to reverse those placings and he'll also be suited by the likely stronger pace here that could be set by the likes of Yarob, Guilsborough and My Retreat.

Top apprentice George Baker is again in the saddle and the son of Efisio can continue his progress on Fibresand. Jorrocks is also lightly raced and open to improvement on this surface and should give another good account.

Baker can also be on the mark with the much-improved Makarim, who bids to extend his unbeaten sequence to four in the Bet Direct Today's Best Bets Handicap.

Norma Macauley's horses have been running well and her Keen Hands is an interesting runner in division one of the National Bloody Mary Day Handicap.

A winner six times at this course (including four times at this trip), the son of Keen admittedly hasn't been setting the world alight in his races at up to seven furlongs of late, but this represents a drop in class compared with his last few runs.

The chestnut has slipped to a very favourable mark and, as the stable's runners have been in very good form of late, he is well worth chancing at reasonable odds with Tony Clark back in the saddle.

Division two can go to Czar Wars, who is on a roll and is still on a fair mark. The form of his last win has worked out well and he too can complete the four-timer.

The maiden over a mile and three furlongs looks distinctly uncompetitive but it can go to Nick Littmoden's Busy Busy Bee