The Briefing: all you need for the day as Waiting Patiently heads to Hexham

An early start and finish on Wednesday as Lingfield kicks off at 11.40am and the twilight fixture at Kempton wraps up by 7.15pm.

In between there are a couple of turf meetings at Hexham and Leicester, where chases are still not viable due to hard ground.

Racegoers heading to Hexham will have the added bonus of being able to watch leading King George hope Waiting Patiently gallop after racing.

The fields are small at Leicester but it is there the quality is highest, with a 0-125 handicap over 2m and a 0-135 over two and a half miles.

Going report

Lingfield (first race 11.40)
Standard

Hexham (12.20)
Soft, heavy in places. Rail movements: 12.20, 12.50 & 3.20 +25yds, 1.20 +15yds, 1.50 & 2.20 +30yds and 2.50 +20yds

Leicester (1.00)
Good to firm, good in places; Good to soft, soft in places in home straight (GoingStick 6.4 on Wednesday at 6.15am).

Kempton (3.40)
Standard to slow

Market movers

1.20 Hexham Derriana Spirit 4-5 (from evens)
2.20 Hexham Nemean Lion 4-1 (from 9-2)
3.40 Kempton No Nonsense 3-1 (from 4)
4.45 Kempton Just The Man 11-4 (from 4)

What to back

Robbie Wilders gives his ten-second tip for Wednesday.

What to read

Excited for Cheltenham this weekend? You surely will be.

If Cheltenham holds no appeal at all to you, chances are Southwell's new floodlights are more your thing. Here is an update.

What to watch

Watch our latest ante-post update for the Cheltenham Festival.

The best of Racing Post Sport

It is the turn of the Manchester clubs in the Champions League tonight, with Man United and Man City in action. If golf is more your thing, Steve Palmer has previewed the Alfred Dunhill Championship.

Final thought

All the interest in Altior almost definitely not taking part in the King George overlooks how difficult the race is to pick apart. Might Bite's abject run at Haydock has seen to that. There are plenty of classy animals not called Altior stepping up into the staying division, but they all have questions to answer.

Genuine pays-your-money-takes-your-choice races are fairly rare, away from Cheltenham anyway. We should be excited that we might well get one on Boxing Day.

For the freshest betting advice, based on latest going and market conditions, don't miss the Live Tipster every afternoon. Just click Raceday Live at racingpost.com or the mobile app