More From Evan Williams Yard

Evan Williams will have no hesitation in pitching West With The Wind and William's Wishes into top company this weekend - but the weather could still spoil his plans.

The pair are entered in the Kingmaker Novices' Chase at Warwick and, more ambitiously, the totepool Game Spirit Chase at Newbury after putting together good sequences.

"I'm very keen to run them but it all depends on the ground and I might not run either if it's too soft," said the trainer.

William's Wishes is unbeaten in three starts over fences but must now move beyond minor novice events at Leicester, Ludlow and Hereford, while West With The Wind has not been seen since completing a Ffos Las hat-trick in the summer.

The trainer went on: "I really want to run William's Wishes against some serious opposition so I can help evaluate where he stands. If he didn't run this weekend I would probably take him to the Grand Annual at Cheltenham.

"The key to West With The Wind is the ground. He needs it to be good, and I wouldn't want to run him on anything worse than good to soft. So we'll have to see how the week develops."

The pair are both entered in the Arkle and the Jewson at the Cheltenham Festival.

Brian Doing The Rain Dance!

Brian Ellison would like to see plenty of rain for Bothy at Newbury in time for the totesport Trophy on Saturday.

The five-year-old ran a fine race on his only start over timber this winter when second to Menorah in the Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham in November. He did not fare too well on the all-weather at Southwell since, but Ellison has drawn a line through that effort.

"The more rain the better for him. He loves soft ground, he's in great form and I'm very hopeful," the North Yorkshire handler told At The Races.

"His second to Menorah in the Greatwood must be the best handicap form around. Menorah's a very good horse and we're looking forward to Saturday if we get the rain.

"We ran him in a bumper race at Southwell but he didn't like the sand in his face, but we had to run him as he was so well. We didn't want to wait until February to get the freshness out of him. He loves jumping."


Ellison also plans to saddle Palomar for Newbury's valuable prize after he finished third in the Lanzarote Hurdle.

"I run Palomar as well. He did a fantastic bit of work on Saturday. He's never let me down since we bought him. He'll go on any ground," he added.

Ayr Off!

This afternoon's meeting at Ayr has been abandoned due to waterlogging following 23 millimetres of rain overnight.

The unexpected rainfall on already saturated ground led to conditions being unraceable.

Clerk of the course Emma Marley said: "A heavy band of rain meant we were unlucky and caught nearly an inch of rain - yet Prestwick down the road only got 10 millimetres. It has left the ground unraceable and it is still raining now."