RIPON, 20 May 2007, Good

3:40 Ripon, Yorkshire's Garden Racecourse Handicap (Class 2) (4yo+,0-100) 1m

[off 3:40] £10,094.40, £3,020.80, £1,510.40, £755.20, £376.00

1 European Dream (IRE) 2 R C Guest 4 8-5 p Joe Fanning 16/1 87 73 —

2 1¼ My Paris 1 K A Ryan 6 8-12 N Callan 7/2 94 77 —

3 2½ Granston (IRE) 4 J D Bethell 6 8-6 Ted Durcan 4/1 88 65 —

4 nk Prince Samos (IRE) 5 D Nicholls 5 8-4 2v1 Adrian T Nicholls 33/1 86 62 —

5 2½ Rio Riva 8 Miss J A Camacho 5 9-4 Tom Eaves 6/5F 100 70 —

6 1½ St Andrews (IRE) 7 M A Jarvis 7 8-11 Martin Guest(7) 20/1 100 67 —

7 1¾ Mezuzah 6 M W Easterby 7 8-5 Paul Mulrennan 16/1 87 49 —

8 46 Rocamadour 3 M R Channon 5 8-10 2 J H Bowman 12/1 92 — —

8 ran TIME 1m 39.99s (slow by 1.49s) TOTAL SP 114%

1st OWNER: You Trotters BRED: Limetree Stud Ltd TRAINER: R C Guest

2nd OWNER: J D Spensley & Mrs M A Spensley

3rd OWNER: The Four Players Partnership

TOTE WIN £16.70 PL £3.50, £1.30, £1.50; Ex £46.00; CSF £71.71; TRICAST £273.84Pool £840.11 - 3.19 winning units. TRIFECTA £186.90 Pool £840.11 - 3.19 winning units.

A solidly run race panned out perfectly for EUROPEAN DREAM, who loves to get towed along and arrive on the scene late. Confidently handled, he cruised through to challenge and had enough in reserve to see off the gallant runner-up.

My Paris was unable to dominate from the outset from a wide draw, but he took over in the straight and ran a fine race, only giving best to the winner inside the last furlong. He is in top form.

THIRSK, 05 May 2007, Good To Firm

3:00 totesport.com Thirsk Hunt Cup (Handicap) (Class 2) (3yo+,0-100) 1m

[off 3:00] £11,658.60, £3,468.60, £1,733.40, £865.80

1 My Paris 9 K A Ryan 6 9-7 D O´Donohoe 13/2 91 74 102

2 nk Bustan (IRE) 8 G C Bravery 8 9-7 J-P Guillambert 6/1 91 74 101

3 1 Minority Report 12 L M Cumani 7 9-9 Nicky Mackay 7/2F 93 73 101+

4 shd Kings Point (IRE) 2 R A Fahey 6 9-6 p Jamie Moriarty(5) 33/1 95 75 102

5 shd El Coto 4 K A Ryan 7 9-3 p Pat Cosgrave 40/1 87 67 94

6 ½ Zato (IRE) 3 M R Channon 4 9-2 Sam Hitchcott 12/1 86 65 94+

7 hd Nevada Desert (IRE) 7 R M Whitaker 7 8-6 7 Michael J Stainton(5) 66/1 81 59 87

8 shd Lucayan Dancer 13 D Nicholls 7 9-0 Phillip Makin 20/1 84 62 89

9 hd Red Lancer 14 D Nicholls 6 8-11 2 Paul Quinn 33/1 81 59 86+

10 ½ Wind Star 6 G A Swinbank 4 9-3 Dean McKeown 5/1 87 64 91

11 hd Game Lad 1 T D Easterby 5 9-0 David Allan 11/1 84 60 87

12 hd Flipando (IRE) 5 T D Barron 6 9-6 Tom Eaves 6/1 90 66 93

13 nk Gallantry 15 D Shaw 5 9-3 Royston Ffrench 33/1 87 62 89

14 2 Obezyana (USA) 10 A Bailey 5 9-1 tb T P Queally 66/1 85 55 83

15 11 Prince Samos (IRE) 11 D Nicholls 5 9-2 Adrian T Nicholls 8/1 86 30 58

15 ran TIME 1m 37.15s (fast by 0.35s) TOTAL SP 126%

1st OWNER: J D Spensley & Mrs M A Spensley BRED: J And A Spensley TRAINER: K A Ryan

2nd OWNER: Mrs J Morley

3rd OWNER: S C B Limited

TOTE WIN £9.60 PL £2.70, £2.30, £2.10; Ex £59.60; CSF £45.07; TRICAST £164.55Pool: £536.30 - 3.40 winning units. TRIFECTA £111.90 Pool: £536.30 - 3.40 winning units.

A typically competitive line-up for this historic handicap.

An all-the-way win for MY PARIS. Soon at the head of affairs from his mid-field berth, he raced around the inside rail like a hare and, sticking gamely to the task when strongly pressed from over two furlongs out, ran out a game winner on ground that would be lively enough for him.

Bustan, always firmly on the premises, had every chance from over two furlongs out, but he found a tough rival in the winner and could never get the better of him.

Minority Report, last year's winner, was not so well drawn this time. Racing midfield, he was pulled to the outer in the straight and, although keeping on gallantly, could never pose a major threat.

Kings Point ran a blinder in fourth, just ahead of El Coto, a stablemate of the winner, who kept on well over a trip which would be a minimum for him these days.

NEWCASTLE, 31 March 2007, Good To Soft

3:55 William Hill Lincoln (Heritage Handicap) (Class 2) (4yo+) (1m3y) 1m

[off 3:55] £61,660.00, £18,560.00, £9,280.00, £4,630.00, £2,320.00, £1,170.00, £580.00, £280.00

1 Very Wise 16 W J Haggas 5 8-11 5 Joe Fanning 9/1 91 — —

2 1 Rio Riva 7 Miss J A Camacho 5 9-3 Tom Eaves 10/1 97 — —

3 4 Mutawaffer 20 R A Fahey 6 8-8 Tony Hamilton 10/1 88 — —

4 nk Raptor (GER) 17 K R Burke 4 9-8 Pat Cosgrave 25/1 102 — —

5 3½ My Paris 19 K A Ryan 6 9-1 N Callan 9/1 95 — —

6 1 Audience 18 J Akehurst 7 8-9 Jimmy Quinn 20/1 89 — —

7 hd Crooked Throw (IRE) 2 C F Swan 8 8-11 W J Lee(3) 25/1 94 — —

8 2 Bolodenka (IRE) 9 R A Fahey 5 9-3 Paul Hanagan 16/1 97 — —

9 nk Blythe Knight (IRE) 5 J J Quinn 7 9-4 Graham Gibbons 22/1 98 — —

10 ¾ Blue Spinnaker (IRE) 8 M W Easterby 8 8-8 Dale Gibson 33/1 88 — —

11 1¾ Collateral Damage (IRE) 6 T D Easterby 4 8-9 David Allan 33/1 89 — —

12 ½ Granston (IRE) 13 J D Bethell 6 8-10 Darryll Holland 14/1 90 — —

13 shd Zero Tolerance (IRE) 14 T D Barron 7 9-10 Phillip Makin 12/1 104 — —

14 6 Capable Guest (IRE) 4 M R Channon 5 8-10 Sam Hitchcott 33/1 90 — —

15 2½ Gentleman´s Deal (IRE) 15 M W Easterby 6 8-13 5 Paul Mulrennan 7/2F 93 — —

16 6 Montpellier (IRE) 10 E A L Dunlop 4 8-8 T P Queally 22/1 88 — —

17 5 Yarqus 12 C E Brittain 4 8-6 William Carson(7) 20/1 93 — —

18 10 Tanzanite (IRE) 11 D W P Arbuthnot 5 8-10 Brett Doyle 8/1 90 — —

19 9 Rain Stops Play (IRE) 3 M Quinn 5 8-9 Shane Kelly 28/1 89 — —

20 3 St Petersburg 1 M H Tompkins 7 8-7 Saleem Golam(3) 66/1 90 — —

20 ran TIME 1m 46.18s (slow by 6.98s) TOTAL SP 131%

1st OWNER: J M Greetham BRED: J M Greetham TRAINER: W J Haggas

2nd OWNER: Rio Riva Partnership

3rd OWNER: P D Smith Holdings Ltd

TOTE WIN £10.50 PL £3.20, £3.20, £3.10, £5.00; Ex £122.80; CSF £86.22; TRICAST £968.70Pool £28,047.10, 11.36 winning units TRIFECTA £1752.90 Pool £28,047.10, 11.36 winning units

My Notes Analysis Comments In Running

Plenty of more-than-useful handicappers in the line-up for the first big prize of the turf season but few could be described as unexposed and the impression that this was more of an old boys' reunion than a source of new, young talent was underlined by the fact that seven of last year's field were back to try again, including four of the first five. And a safety limit of only 20 limited the potential for improvers to get into the race, with a BHB rating of 88 needed to get a run.

But VERY WISE wasone of the exceptions, a lightly raced five-year-old who had improved on the all-weather of late - a 5lb penalty earned him a place in the line-up - and he won this in the style of a smart 1m handicapper in the making, always prominent, leading at halfway, clear over a furlong out and ultimately good value for his winning margin. He did much the best of those ridden up with the pace and never looked like being caught by those coming from behind. His progress earlier in his career was hindered by over-keenness and he raced with plenty of zest here, but he is clearly going the right way and ought to win more races.

The winner had the advantage of a stands' side draw in a race in which all bar three raced on that part of the track, whereas Rio Riva had to be switched from stall seven on the far side. He has developed into a useful handicapper on a soft surface and made an encouraging reappearance here, doing best of those coming from off the pace as he made ground from over two furlongs out, took second place a furlong out and kept on well to come clear of the remainder. He should win a similar race while conditions remain favourable.

Mutawaffer has a record of going well first time out and did so again, making ground over two furlongs out until one paced in the final furlong - he is effective at 1m2f and has the ability to score off his current mark but is not easy to win with.

Ex-German-trained Raptor made a very encouraging start to his British career, as he was slow to stride and inrear and also seemed to lack the pace for a hot 1m handicap, but he kept on well. He will prove at least as effective over further and though he has been done no favours by the BHB handicapper, he could well be placed to advantage in Britain.

My Paris chased the pace for a long way but paid the price and weakened in the latter stages - he has dropped to an attractive mark and could be of interest with this race behind him.

Audience will certainly be one to look out for next time, as he was hampered soon after the start but made good ground in the final two furlongs. He had been fifth last year and benefits from a straight 1m and give in the ground.

Crooked Throw is another who deserves plenty of credit, as he was slow to stride and had to be switched right from his unfavourable draw - he did well to finish as close as he did. Bolodenka and Blue Spinnaker ran creditably, while Blythe Knight was not disgraced, given that he was another who had to come across from a farside stall.

Zero Tolerance showed early speed but could not last home - he had a tough task with top weight.

Capable Guest comfortably saw off his two other rivals on the far side but it is difficult to judge what he achieved - and though he has shown he has the ability to score off his current mark, he is none too easy to win with. St Petersburg and Rain Stops Play were the other two to race on the far side and they are also worth another chance.