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BADGER FOOT: Peter Russell's up-and-coming prospect holds an entry in both Open races
photo: Grace Beresford

The Balcormo Mains course near Leven, Britain's most northerly Point-to-Point venue, stages its first Easter meeting for more than 30 years on Saturday, with the Fife's seven race card starting at 2pm.

The track was spiked on Tuesday, with watering taking place on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

All runners in the Mens and Ladies Opens will be eligible for a £2,000 bonus if they go on to win the Young Horse Champion and Fearless Freddie Bonus Novices' Hunter Chase at Perth on Thursday May 12th. This lucrative prize has been kindly donated in memory of the late bookmaker Freddie Williams.

The Alexander family has dominated the Members Race in the last decade and holds a strong hand again this time with Almost Blue, Commercial Express, Noir Et Vert and Skipping Chapel among the nine entries. The danger is Streedagh Lady, who landed a mares' maiden in Ireland back in March 2010, and was close up when falling three out on her first start for Peter Buchanan at Kelso earlier this month.

Another Dark Rum had plenty in hand when getting off the mark at Crossford last month and still held every chance when falling three out at Tranwell a fortnight ago. John Leadbetter's charge can get back on the winning trail in the Restricted Race at the main expense of Perellie and Dodgey Dream.

Itzacliche aims to repeat last year's victory in the Ladies Open Race to lift his career tally into double figures. Most effective on a sound surface, Joey Richards' mount just got the better of Sacred Mountain at Tranwell last time and should not be troubled to account for King's Envoy and Little Vantage.

This season's leading young horse in the North is Peter Russell's exciting six-year-old gelding, Badger Foot. Successful on his last four starts under four different riders, it is hard to see his winning sequence being broken in the Mens Open Race. Commercial Express and Noir Et Vert are doubly engaged here, while the dark horse is the former Gordon Elliott-trained gelding Militant, who was narrowly beaten on two occasions amongst Open company in Ireland last year.

Definite Appeal ran well in Ireland last month, both between the flags and in a hunter chase, and merits plenty of respect if turning out for his new connections in the NPPA Club Members Race, while Anns Benefit has no stamina issues and remains capable of recapturing the form shown in 2009.

The Open Maiden Race for younger horses has ten entries, and may chiefly concern Barachois Silver, Dust Packer and Merry Eric. All three have been in the frame this term over a shorter trip and it remains to be seen which one will be most effective at this stayers track.

The concluding Open Maiden Race for older horses can go to the Yorkshire raider, What A Cliche. Ed Cameron's mount doesn't have any stamina worries and showed enough when runner-up at Duncombe Park and Hornby Castle last year to suggest that his winning turn cannot be far away. Of the others, Trianconi shaped well when third at Crossford after being off the track for 22 months, while The Other Bar led for a long way at Tranwell before fading into fourth place.

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