Hot 2 Trot - Catterick 3.30 2 Astra Hall @ 14/1 (BV) / 10 Shermann McCoy @ 9/1

At Catterick the 3.30 over 12 furlongs on soft Going is a classic Autumn puzzle;

some potentially well handicapped younger Flat types, some Hurdlers having a

spin to prepare for the Jumps campaign and a few old "plodders" who may be on

very nice handicap marks and who regularly and monotonously run to those marks.

Both Astra Hall and Shermann Mc'Coy come in to the latter category, both CD winners

off very similar marks in soft Going and both as solid as teak in the context of the race

at nice prices. Those prices reflect the fact that they may get "blown away" by the

progressive youngsters but the Going and Trip round here leads us to think that

experience may win the day here and both are fit and fresh enough to be competitive.