Manning freed to take Guineas rides

KEVIN MANNING was freed to ride in this weekend's Guineas meeting at the Curragh when the four-day ban he picked up from the Killarney stewards last week was quashed by a Turf Club appeals committee.

Manning will now be able to ride Mosconi in Sunday's 2,000 Guineas and either Via Vcrbano or Azra in the 1,000. "I had a very fair hearing and I was very happy with the outcome," Manning said yesterday. The jockey had been banned for using his whip with excessive force and frequency in the Great Southern Handicap at Killarney on May 13th.

Peter Chapple-Hyam will launch a two-pronged assault on the big Curragh race as he bids to win it for the fourth time. Unbeaten Romanov will join hot favourite Revoqtie, both horses running in the colours of Robert Sangster, as Chapple-Hyam attempts to supplement the victories of Rodrigo de Triano in 1992, Turtle Island in 1994 and Spec-trum the following year.

The Nureyev colt, neck winner of a conditions race at Sandown last month on the latter of his two starts, has been chalked up at 8 to 1 with Ladbrokes for Sunday's race. Revoque, three-quarters of a length second to Entrepreneur in the English 2000, is the firm's 4 to 5 favourite.

Chapple-Hyam confirmed yesterday: "We have just decided that Romanov will run. Both horses are in great form and will fly out on Saturday. I thought it was a very good run at Sandown. He had improved from his debut at Haydock and has improved a hell of a lot since then. Just how much, we will see.

"John Reid will ride Revoque but I haven't decided on a jockey for Romanov. We will decide in the next couple of days."

Meanwhile, the John Oxx-trained Khatara is a doubtful participant in Saturday's 1000 Guineas at the Curragh, as she may be a vidim of the `flu.

"There is a little bit of the `flu in the yard and Khatara did not work as well this week as she had last week," the trainer disclosed. "l will be selective with my runners but hopefully it is only a mild dose and will pass quickly."

. Record-breaking Martin Pipe hit the double-century for the fifth time of his career after Nordic Breeze sailed away with the Come Racing At Newton Abbot Novices' Hurdle at the Devon circuit last evening. "It was a breeze!" joked ajubilant Pipe following the 2 to 11 shot's victory under Tony McCoy.