Racing: Warwick the King maker

A TOTAL of 33 horses have been entered for Saturday's Warwick National, including four from the Somerset yard of Martin Pipe - Chatam, Cushinstown, King's Curate and Riverside Boy.

Pipe is keen to take the wraps off former top-class staying hurdler King's Curate, sidelined since April, 1992. The gelding, formerly trained by Stan Mellor, is also entered for the First National Chase at Ascot on Friday.

'It is impossible to finalise plans at present and anyway Martin will want to sit down and scan the entries properly,' a spokeswoman for Pipe said yesterday.

Last Saturday, Warwick was the only course in Britain able to stage racing on turf. Yesterday the clerk of the course, Peter McNeile, reported no problems for next weekend.

Into The Red, John White's Grand National candidate, is among the Warwick National entries, as is David Nicholson's Moorcroft Boy.