STEVE KETTLEWELL will be hoping the weekend's hot weather missed the Hamilton area in Scotland. The Middleham trainer has been tempted north to the Glasgow track by the likelihood of going no faster than good to firm on a course which usually offers more give in the ground than most.
Provided a sun-filled 48 hours has not left the terrain rock hard he has a good chance of landing the Captain JC Stewart Memorial Handicap with Highspeed who has shown all his best form away from a very firm surface.
The four-year-old has developed into a fair miler this term and scored twice at Ayr in May. He has run several good races since, despite the dry summer, and ran as well as ever when a staying-on fourth under an inexperienced apprentice at Ayr last time out.
The gelding was having only his second outing after a lay-off that day and better can be expected from him today, especially as Hamilton's stiff uphill finish is more likely to bring his stamina into play.
In-form Kevin Darley takes over on Highspeed who looks set to take advantage of a recent drop in the weights.
Fellow Middleham raider Ultra Beet could prove the answer to the opening Stoater Apprentices' Handicap. The Pat Haslam-trained four-year-old looked a cut above a plater when landing a seller on the all-weather at Wolverhampton earlier this month.
