Racing: Oh So Risky's stable runs into form

OH SO RISKY, runner-up in last year's Champion Hurdle, is working well on the gallops and his trainer, David Elsworth, is confident that he can move one step higher on the podium this year.

'I was going to work him after racing at Newbury tomorrow, but all is going so well at home it isn't necessary,' Elsworth said. Asked if his stable jockey, Paul Holley, had decided whether to partner Oh So Risky or Muse in the Champion, Elsworth smiled: 'He hasn't made up his mind, mainly because I haven't told him yet which one he rides.'

Oh So Risky has been backed from 25-1 to 12-1 with William Hill for the Champion in the last fortnight and his supporters will have been cheered by the evidence of yesterday's results when Elsworth's team showed they are back on song with victories for Givus A Buck and Fragrant Dawn.

At Fontwell, Peter Scudamore completed a double on the Martin Pipe-trained On the Sauce and Skipping Tim to go 17 clear of his championship rival Richard Dunwoody, who drew a blank at Newbury. Skipping Tim was winning the 21st race of his career, having originally been bought out of a Newton Abbot seller for 5,800gns.