Irish stake their Cheltenham claims

One of leading Irish owner JP McManus's top Cheltenham hopes, the Michael O'Brien-trained gelding was soon in trouble in testing ground and finished unplaced behind 20-1 shot Lisaan, who is as yet not entered for the Festival. But it latter emerged that Pittsburgh Phil had finished lame.

Meanwhile, Colonel Braxton rocketed into the Royal & SunAlliance Novices' Hurdle scene with wide-margin success in the Grade Two Deloitte & Touche Novices' Hurdle. Dessie Hughes's charge, running in the colours of leading Flat owner Sue Magnier, stretched clear under Kieren Kelly to justify odds of 6-4 from mare Liss A Paoraigh, hitherto unbeaten this season and also a candidate for the same Festival race.

Meanwhile, wet weather continues to play havoc with the UK's scheduled racing. After unexpected torrential rain claimed Wetherby's high-class Saturday card, today's meeting at Fontwell has also fallen after an inspection yesterday.

"We are waterlogged on the hurdles track and there is no prospect of it getting better," said Fontwell's clerk of the course, David McHarg, on cancelling the meeting.

Today's other surviving National Hunt card at Musselburgh is also under threat with snowfall forecast for Scotland. Track officials are holding an inspection this morning to determine whether the meeting can go ahead.

Market Rasen are also inspecting today ahead of tomorrow's scheduled fixture.

Clerk of the course Charlie Moore expects to find the chase course to be "unlikely" to be raceable but he hopes to produce an all-hurdle substitute card.

"If the chase course is not fit for racing, we will apply to have two of the hurdle races divided to produce a six-race card and keep the show on the road. We have had an inch of rain in three days," he reported.

There is no inspection planned for tomorrow's Carlisle meeting and a course spokesman said: "We are hopeful but will have to see what the weather brings."

Looking further ahead to Thursday, both Chepstow and Ludlow report significant amounts of rain but no threat, as yet, to their racing programmes.

Meanwhile, the Smurfit Champion Hurdle gamble on Gun'n Roses, backed from 100-1 to 25-1, went badly astray at Sandown on Sat urday when the Francois Rohaut-trained five-year-old finished last of seven behind Teaatral in the Agfa Hurdle.

A disappointed Rohaut said: "He will not go to Cheltenham now after such a bad run."

Highly-rated novice chaser Shotgun Willy is likely to reappear at Newbury on Saturday. He will run in either the Aon Chase or the featured novice chase. If he lines up for the former he will be up against the Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup favourite, First Gold.

Charlie Swan looks set to ride the Pat Hughes-trained Grinkov in Saturday's Tote Gold Trophy at Newbury. The sixyear-old, a top-priced 8-1 for the Berkshire course's showpiece event, landed a gamble when winning the Pierse Hurdle at Leopardstown last month.