Princely occasion
The London Weekend Television dinner to mark the opening of their new building on the South Bank was a princely occasion this week, and I must follow the old fron At one time it looked as if the Timeform Charity Meeting would not have an opportunity to emulate its successful day at Doncaster last year, but all's ended well, with it coming to rest at York, midway between the junketings of Epsom and Ascot. The ante-post books of Messrs William Hill make Workboy 2-1 favourite for their £5,000 feature race, presumably on the strength of his four length defeat of the Cherkeley Sprint winner, Trillium, However, 5-1 shot Flintham, after struggling with the classic milers, also defeated his seniors in a sprint at Redcar. Rated llb above Workboy in the Free Handicap, he now gets 61b from that horse and seems a better bet. Instinctively sceptical of good ' sources ' which are usually common knowledge by the time I get my money on them, an exception could be a five-year-old handicapper who goes by the name of Damastown. One win from thirteen starts last year is hardly earth-shattering, but since joining John Sutcliffe's stable he has cantered in by eight lengths at Yarmouth. Engaged at both York and Sandown on Saturday, if the weights are anything to go by, he'll probably turn up at the former — and, I hope, at a decent price. The nice thing about shivering round the radiator the first fortnight in June, is that it greatly improves the odds for an Ascot heatwave — the men at Moss Bros worked round the clock last year drying out the sodden toppers ready for the next day's deluge and as for the ladies, straw hats and brollies are an unhappy combination. However, it can pour all it likes as far is Celtic Cone is concerned, who, with or without the water, stands an excellent chance of bringing off an Ascot Stakes double.
Assets: £105. Outlay: £3 to win Flintham, Damastown and Celtic Cone.
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