Tuesday 8 January

Handicap ratings are published on a Tuesday morning, and it is always interesting to see if the official assessors thoughts coincide with our own. Today they do - well, nearly. Last weeks winner Smart Exit has been raised 6lbs to a mark of 105, which means he will not have to go up in grade when he runs again, which is great, and exactly what we expected. Tannerman, second last week in a selling hurdle, remains on the same mark - again the right move, and means that he will now head to Towcester over fences later this month. The only one that came as a bit of a surprise was Colebrooke, who he left on 122 after getting beaten a fair way in the feature race in Fakenham last week. I would have expected him to be dropped a couple to 120, to give him a chance back in the lower grade.This weeks entries are Norse Wren (Ludlow Weds, Wetherby Sat) Reyno (Ludlow Weds, Huntingdon Fri) and Justazippy (Wetherby sat).