Racing : Trophy tilting in Moulin's favour

The mind might insist that a serious interest is lunacy, but there is something about the Tote Gold Trophy which makes the fingers itch for one of those stubby little bookies' pens and a blank slip to scribble on. Even the disappearance of Penny A Day, previously one of the ante- post joint-favourites, at yesterday's five-day entry stage will do little to cool punters' ardour for one of the betting highlights of the winter season, and of the 22 names which remain, few will go to post at Newbury on Saturday without their share of supporters.

Penny A Day, who is running a temperature, was not the only important withdrawal, for though Martin Pipe's Pridwell was only a 20-1 outsider yesterday morning, his failure to appear on the revised list is every bit as significant. With Large Action, as expected, also coming out, the weights rise by 9lb, bringing all of the remaining entries into the handicap proper, and ensuring that there will be none of the post-race grumbles which followed Pridwell's compression of the weights in last month's Lanzarote Hurdle.

That race went to Pridwell's stablemate, Make A Stand, who is now the clear second-favourite for Saturday's race. Those who believe that Pipe never does anything without a good reason will be interested to note that the absence of Pridwell brings another of Pipe's entries, Hamilton Silk, up to an ideal racing weight of 10st, but the latest odds - Hamilton Silk is a top-priced 33-1 - indicate that Make A Stand is his main contender for one of the few major races which the man from Wellington has yet to win.

If he is to correct that omission, however, Make A Stand will probably need to beat a hot favourite in Edelweis Du Moulin, whose odds of 7-2 will surely shorten still further if, as expected, he is confirmed as a runner later this week. Gordon Richards' hurdler was a laughably easy winner at Wetherby on Saturday, and there could be few better judges of his chance of completing a swift double than Howard Johnson, who saddled the five-length runner-up there, Tom Brodie, and also expects to run Direct Route, a 6-1 shot, in the big race this weekend.

Johnson's opinion is not encouraging for Edelweis Du Moulin's opponents. Direct Route was given a work-out after racing at Newcastle yesterday. Ridden by his lad, Direct Route galloped one and a half miles with two unraced stablemates and joined them to finish hard held.

Johnson said later: "I'll be disappointed if he doesn't finish in the first four. I'm very happy with him; he's in great heart and the faster the ground the better. But it'll take a really good horse to beat Edelweis Du Moulin. He won hard held on Saturday, he was pulling double over ours, and ours is okay. It was a slow time, and sometimes when you get these horses off the bit they don't find too much, but he couldn't have won any better."

It would be wise to remember, however, that several hot favourites have failed to deliver in this race in recent years. Punters who cannot bring themselves to take 3-1 in such a fiercely competitive event will also point to Edelweis Du Moulin's recent record - he has failed to complete in three of his last four starts.

As the accompanying tables demonstrate, the ability to shop around for the best price is one of the most important weapons at any punter's disposal. Yesterday's news that Ladbrokes has acquired the 114-shop chain of A R Dennis is therefore disappointing for anyone who believes that strong, independent bookies are an important bulwark against the might of the Big Three. Ladbrokes will pay at least pounds 31.3 million for the outlets, and up to pounds 1.4 million more depending on the finalisation of accounts, in order to take their total strength to 1,925 shops.

It was one of Ladbrokes' better marketing wheezes, the handicap hurdle which the firm sponsors at Leopardstown in January, which first implied that cracks might be appearing in the relationship between Jenny Pitman and her stable jockey, Warren Marston. Master Tribe, who won the Ladbroke for Pitman last month, was ridden not by Marston, but by Norman Williamson, and the subsequent chatter in the Lambourn saloon bars has insisted that the doubts over Marston's future at Weathercock House had contributed to Mark Pitman's decision to quit his post as assistant trainer and set up on his own.

Not so, according to Marston's agent, Chris Broad. "The supposed fall- out about the riding arrangements is totally unfounded," Broad said yesterday. "Warren's position at Mrs Pitman's remains unchanged, but I am sure there will be occasions, not too many I hope, when other jockeys are used by the stable. I hope that this clears up any misunderstanding.''

Ladbrokes' takeover of A R Dennis, Business, page 18