Racing: Pipe poses a problem for punters with Puntal

Picking the winner of Ascot's Ladbroke Hurdle is a task that would challenge Nostradamus, let alone the the average client of the race sponsor, and this Saturday's renewal has been made even more perplexing by Martin Pipe's announcement that running plans for his five entries will be left undecided until the last moment. With £100,000 in prize-money on offer, his caution is understandable.

Although the 15 runnings of this handicap hurdle, which was switched permanently from Leopardstown last year, have provided favourite backers with just two reasons to cheer, the champion trainer was in no mood to aid ante-post punters yesterday. Explaining his decision, Pipe said: "We leave everything to the last moment. We talk to the owners, we talk to AP McCoy and do all our in-house tests and try and get our horses there 200 per cent so that the public get the best run for their money.

"We never want to mislead the punters. We can't manage without punters – racing would not exist without them."

Pipe came in for heavy criticism when switching Horus, the well backed favourite for last Saturday's Tripleprint Gold Cup, to a race the previous afternoon, which he duly won.

Puntal, second favourite for the Ascot showpiece, is the runner most likely to repeat Horus's achievements for the Nicolashayne handler as he is also entered in a valuable novice hurdle on Friday.

Despite Pipe's caginess, some punters did dare to enter the market yesterday, with Tikram, third in the race last year, the subject of each-way support despite the Ascot going being softer than he prefers. The Gary Moore-trained five-year-old, who creeps into the handicap proper after a recent Fontwell win, is now as low as 12-1 after being 25-1 on Monday.

The highlight of yesterday's racing came at Folkestone where the Paul Nicholls-trained Le Sauvignon won the novice chase. The result, as impressive as it was predictable, represented an encouraging start to the gelding's British career. Previously trained in Maisons-Laffitte, the eight-year-old accumulated nearly £500,000 in prize-money along with two French Champion Hurdles before arriving at Nicholls's West Country yard in October. The 4-11 favourite was always travelling better than his rivals and jumped effectively throughout on his way to a five-length win.

"That was just the job," Nicholls said. "He jumped well and he quickened. He's been cantering for only five weeks so I didn't want to go for a big one before we had got a run into him. If we can keep him right he could be a very good chaser. The Royal & SunAlliance [Chase, at Cheltenham] will be his big target." Coral reacted to the win by cutting his price from 25-1 to 12-1 for that race.

Another potential Cheltenham prospect, Little Rock, will make his debut over hurdles today at Newbury. Now with François Doumen, the son of Warning was a Group Two winner for Sir Michael Stoute, and will be expected to open his account over hurdles despite a poor year on the flat in France.