DOUBLE HANDFUL

TODAY is April Fools’ Day, so be on your guard for people playing pranks.

Some supermarket cashier tried to play an early trick on me yesterday by telling me there was a new one pound coin in circulation. I laughed as I tossed the silly little coins back at her.

It’s the Lincoln today and that means only one thing to your intrepid racegoer — the official unveiling of the Flat season.

In packed fields I always like to look for a bit of value, particularly given that the statistics reveal four of the last six winners have returned at 16-1 or bigger.

I don’t normally pay too much attention to stats, especially if they don’t back up my point.

But did you know the chances of dying between Friday and Monday is 1,100 times greater than winning the lottery? The source, the UK National Statistics.

The chance of any given person adding red liquid to their bacon sandwich is 12 per cent. The sauce being tomato. Roger Charlton’s Yuften looks the one to beat. He won at Ascot last autumn and a repeat of that run would see him go close. But I can’t get overly enthusiastic at odds of 5-1 in a 22-runner race. I tipped up one of today’s entries, Richard Fahey’s Gabrial, to win the race two years ago and he duly obliged at 16-1. He’s eight years- old now and another victory looks a step too far. However, Fahey has to be respected having trained two of the last five winners. He goes into battle five-handed and the best of those five horses looks to be DOLPHIN VISTA. Former champion jockey Paul Hanagan has been booked for the ride, a clear indication he’s their best bet. Fahey has revealed the four-year old was gelded over the winter and has been working very well at home. Significantly, he also said his horse would be helped by softer going. Rain is forecast for Doncaster in the early afternoon.