Cormier leads a northern whitewash at Kelso while National contenders limber up

With just over a week until That Event You May Have Heard Of, this was one of jump racing's quieter weekends and a fine opportunity for some spotlight-grabbing by people and businesses who get few such chances.

Newbury and Doncaster have long-established fixtures on the Saturday but not the compelling kind that would get punters vaulting out of bed at 7am with a song in their hearts, so it has been interesting to see Kelso's determined and sustained attempts to establish a compelling raceday that can compete for centre stage.

The Morebattle Hurdle at the Borders track was worth £51,000 to the winner, just £5,000 less than the County Hurdle winner will get and Cormier, who prevailed on Saturday, will land a £100,000 bonus if he can follow up in the festival race. It's worth remembering that Cormier, whose eight successes include one at Cheltenham last month, broke his duck in a 1m4f handicap at Catterick just 19 months ago, backed from 22-1 to 100-30. Rated 50 that day, he really was a good thing.