BORDERLESCOTT (3.35) attempts another giant-killing act by taking on some of the land's leading sprinters at Haydock this afternoon.

The Group 2 Temple Stakes is the contest in question, a £100,000 showpiece in which Saeed Bin Suroor, Richard Hannon and Peter Chapple-Hyam are represented.

All three of those high-profile handlers have huge firepower at their disposal, yet none may beat Borderlescott, hailing from Robin Bastiman's tiny North Yorkshire stable.

It's was a red-letter day for Bastiman when he sent out the sprint star to slay his rivals in the 2006 Stewards' Cup, however a run of chronic bad luck then set in.

Although the Glorious Goodwood victory was one most will recall with great glee, it's a fact that in the aftermath he's lost out by a short-head on four separate occasions.

Neither were these reverses in egg-and-spoon events, we're talking big prizes, for which the agony of finishing second was exacerbated by the minuscule margin of defeat.

But in common with any walk in life you can't turn back the clock and Bastiman has bashed on regardless, sourcing a nice comeback for Borderlescott at Musselburgh.

It wasn't a million-buck race, but the six-year-old blasted to success on May 2 in Scotland, teeing him up nicely for today's try to fry much bigger fish.

"He's the best I've ever trained - too high in the weights for handicaps and we're going to avoid Group 1's this year as he's not good enough for them," revealed Bastiman.

The preceding Betfred Silver Bowl carries a similarly large pay-packet for the eventual winner, which in this case I hope will be Staying On (3.05).

Former Derby-winning jockey Walter Swinburn's glittering days in the saddle have not been matched with equal panache as a trainer, but there's still time.

It just takes that one special horse to kick-start a career and Staying On, triumphant in two of his three races to date, could be Swinburn's ace in the pack.

From public evidence we've got precious little to go on, but Swinburn gave prospective backers a clue after the progressive three-year-old scored at Windsor.

"That's the first time he's come off the bridle, he only had to be pushed out to win at Wolverhampton and Newbury's bottomless ground made it a nonevent,"

he said.

The Brian Yeardley Continental Two-Year-Old Trophy is one of two feature events at Beverley, where Able Master (3.15) bids to preserve his unbeaten record.

Not for the first time at this embryonic stage of the season, Bryan Smart has his youngsters in fine fettle, a situation all set to be maintained by the speedy son of Elusive City.

Despite drifting like the Marie Celeste in the betting market, Able Master scorched to success on what was an impressive Ripon debut.

The second-home, Mullglen, subsequently franked the value of the performance by scoring at Musselburgh, a sure sign that the form of the Ripon race is rocksolid.

The other major purse belongs to the Joyce And Keith Saunders Conditions Stakes, cash potentially heading for the coffers of Alan Berry's Look Busy (2.55).

Look Busy made a fabulous start to his three-year-old campaign, roasting the hot-favourite with a blinding turn of foot on a lucrative visit to Chester.

Berry's inmate has shaped as if he might be Listed, an opinion confirmed by that sparkling comeback, which he won in the style of a fast-improving individual.

The Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh is one heck of a clash with the two principals of the English equivalent, Henrythenavigator and New Approach (3.45), renewing rivalry.

They finished in that order and seeing as there was only the width of a fag paper between them, the re-match promises to be something to savour.

The bookmakers believe New Approach will make it 1-1, so as I was in the New Approach camp at Newmarket, I'll stick with the smart money and row in with Jim Bolger's colt once again.