Can popular grey Roy Rocket hit the heights on 20th start at Brighton?

Racing fans love a grey – and down at Brighton there is no more popular grey than Roy Rocket.

John Berry's track stalwart has not graced the winner's enclosure in more than a year, but the biggest cheer of the day on the south coast will be saved for the final race if the eight-year-old can win the amateur riders' handicap (5.15) on his 50th career start.

It will be the 20th time the Rocket has raced at Brighton, where he has won six times and been placed on a further six occasions, and what better way to celebrate a landmark outing than by bagging a seventh course success?

John Berry: 'I'm really happy we decided to wait and he's in great form now'Credit: Chris Bourchier

His prospects depend on whether his talented Newmarket trainer can coax him back to the sort of form that saw him score off a 12lb higher mark last April, and there is cause for optimism, according to Berry, who said on Monday: “There were opportunities to run him in quick succession in May and early June, but I'm really happy we decided to wait and he's in great form now.

“He won this race two years ago, was rated too high to run in it last year, yet here we are 12 months on and he's running off bottom weight!

“He's run well on all his starts on grass this year, including in a charity race at Warwick last month, he loves fast ground, which is going to be important, and I don't think he's showing any signs of deteriorating. If he was we would obviously retire him.

“It's so lovely taking him down there, he's got such a big following and so many people ask how he is, it's a real pleasure to be involved in a horse like this.”

Will Treasure strike gold again?

Newton Abbot's' six-race card has a low-key feel, understandably for the time of year, but the notable exception is the Thank You Sylvia For 30 Years Dedication Novices' Hurdle (7.00), which has attracted two 130+ rated hurdlers.

Indeed, Double Treasure is rated even higher over fences and looked a novice chaser on his way to the top when winning at Cheltenham in October, before the wheels came off when pitched into stronger company.

However, the Jamie Snowden-trained seven-year-old looked back on good terms with himself when thrashing five rivals in a novice hurdle at Fontwell this month. Although a follow-up is no formality, given the presence of Desirable Court and The Last But One, his trainer posted an upbeat bulletin on Monday.

He said: “He came unstuck on soft ground after winning that good novices' chase at Cheltenham but he's in really good form now and the Fontwell win was a real confidence-booster.

“It's a nice prize to go for and although there looks to be a couple of respected rivals, our lad is the highest-rated of them. He's a big strong horse who should have no problem carrying a penalty and conditions will be ideal."

Also on the Newton Abbot card is the David Chillery Happys Days Celebrating His Divorce Novices' Handicap Chase (6.30).

The fact the redoubtable Mr Chillery supported races on the corresponding card in 2013 and 2014 with similar prefixes perhaps suggests the Sue Gardner-trained Quick N' Easy may not be the most appropriate winner, but you never know!

Can Bishop notch half-century?

Charlie Bishop returns to the saddle three days after failing a breath test at Royal Ascot on Saturday.

Bishop, who had been due to partner Azor Ahai in the Chesham Stakes, Jungle Inthebungle (Windsor Castle), Ice Age (Wokingham) and Tempestatefloresco (Queen Alexandra) before being suspended for the day, had begun the week in sensational style by winning his first Group 1, the Queen Anne Stakes, on the Eve Johnson Houghton-trained Accidental Agent.

Bishop, 24, rider is back in action aboard Super Julius for Johnson Houghton in Brighton's sprint handicap (3.15), in which victory would provide him with a landmark 50th winner of the campaign.

Will backers be up the creek again?

It looks highly likely Cypress Creek is going to off at very prohibitive odds in Ballinrobe's Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden (7.20), but will punters want to go in again after his costly defeat at 8-13 last time?

He is a brother to St Leger winner Capri and holds an entry in this year's Irish equivalent, but the manner in which he was brushed aside by stablemate Giuseppe Garibaldi at Navan suggests he's got a long way even to get close to emulating his sibling's achievements.

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