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THE weather has finally taken a turn, so much so that the much awaited seasonal debut of CONSTITUTION HILL will now go ahead in the hurdle at Ascot at 2.40 over just short of two-and-a-half miles. Like me, you will have read all the reports from Seven Barrows about his immense home work and it will be a major shock if the current Champion Hurdle favourite is unable to retain his unbeaten record under rules.

His five rivals are rated at least 14lbs behind the youngster on my private ratings and the closest to him is the enigmatic Goshen who blew out over fences at this track last time out. I am sure that at his very best the Gary Moore charge would at least make the selection get out of second gear, if he doesn’t I don’t know where this six-year-old goes next, whereas the sky is the limit for Nicky Henderson’s long odds-on favourite.

So it goes without saying that fifth race on the card will be considered by many as a non-betting event, something that you couldn’t apply to the Hurst Park Handicap Chase at 3.15. Edwardstone has been diverted here from the Cheltenham Chase on Sunday, but has no easy task giving weight away all round against more experienced chasers off top weight 12 stone, from a handicap mark of 161.

Thyme White was an impressive winner over the course and distance three weeks ago, but that success came on the good ground he prefers so if the going remains good to soft or softer (the forecast is mixed) I fancy that the second home that day, Frero Banbou, will reverse the form being 7lbs better off for that four-and-three-quarter length defeat.

But I am going to side on the other “potential” horse apart from Alan King’s charge in the form of BOOTHILL. A good handicap hurdler, Harry Fry always saw his future over fences, but he blew out badly on his chasing debut last December when he was far from fluent at Exeter and returned to hurdles for the remainder of the campaign.

After reportedly schooling well during the autumn, the seven-year-old put in a much cleaner round of jumping when scoring at Newton Abbot in the middle of October. Now of course he is in much deeper waters here, but the going is in his favour and when you remember he was rated as high as 135 over hurdles, his chasing mark of 140, with more improvement to come, is a very fair offering from the handicapper.

Despite the rain in Berkshire, the remainder of the fields are disappointingly small and the Broadway Novices’ Chase hero L’Homme Presse takes his first step on the Cheltenham Gold Cup path when lining up in the 1965 Ascot Chase over 2m5f. But with his stable in dreadful form and his arch rival Hitman race fit, this looks a tall order despite the fact that he is expected to go off at a shade of odds-on.

However, I think that we are in for a mini shock here and SAINT CALVADOS could be the value from a stable flying high at the moment. There is a chance he will be used as semi pace maker for Hitman, but I am hoping that he runs on his own merits, and on his best form from last season, when third in the King George VI Chase and fifth in the Golden Miller Novices’ Chase at Aintree, he is a far from a forlorn hope.

As far as the rest of the card is concerned, I also fancy a huge run from GUNNERY OFFICER in the opening staying novice hurdle at 12.20. I loved the way that he knuckled down to business at the sharp end when seeing off Etalon and company at Warwick, and I expect that this former point-to-point winner will make the most of his guaranteed stamina against the likes of Are U Wise To That and Scarface.

I can readily argue that the better punting meeting is at Haydock, the feature race aside, where the focus of my betting energies have gone towards dissecting the Grade 3 National Hunt Hurdle over three miles due off at 2.25.

To my eyes, the two potential horses are Might I and Good Risk At All. The latter travelled like a classy stayer when easily casting aside Wholestone at Carlisle. With the weights slightly in the winner’s favour, I see no reason for that form to be reversed unless the Sam Thomas runner fails to stay the extra half mile.

Might I bumped into the very best novice hurdlers last year, and an opening handicap mark of 142 looks slightly on the lenient side. Like his market rival, there is a slight doubt that the extra yardage may not suit, but both his breeding and style of running suggest otherwise.

While the likes of Botox Has and Cesarewitch hero Run For Oscar add to the depth of this contest, it is right down at the bottom of the weights that I am going to set my sights on.

The Irish raider AILIE ROSE has always looked as though she would only fulfil her potential once given a real test of stamina, and although she is one from one over three miles in a well-run three-horse race where she made her own running, I think that the mare will come into her own in a bigger field on more testing ground. It is undeniably a tough ask for the Irish raider even off bottom weight, but I am confident we will see a significant step forward here in this very different scenario.

The feature Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase (3.00) looks at the mercy of A PLUS TARD, and the only scenario I can see the current holder and Gold Cup winner being beaten is if the ground becomes hock deep, which seems unlikely perusing the current weather forecast. On good to soft, soft in places, I see Protektorat as the likely forecast mixer here.

Elsewhere this afternoon and this evening I shall also be having an investment in CAPTAIN BROOMFIELD (2.33 Huntingdon) and under the lights at Wolverhampton MIGHTY GURKHA in the six furlong sprint at 5.00.

It was as recently as March of this year that the last named was rated as high as 93 when last of 12 in a class three event over course and distance. This afternoon he is set to run off just 73 and showed last time out at Chelmsford that his turn was close at hand.