THURSDAY'S SELECTIONS: CARLISLE: 2.10 King Jack, 2.40 Overserved, 3.15 Companero, 3.45 Laertes, 4.20 Supreme Builder, 4.50 Native Coll, 5.20 The Hollinwell. LINGFIELD: 2.00 Sheer Magnetism, 2.30 Pascha Bere, 3.05 The Speaker, 3.35 El Zorro, 4.10 Lysander, 4.40 Green Gamble, 5.10 Charlie Bear. THURLES: 1.45 Candy Girl, 2.15 Conna Castle, 2.45 Good Thing, 3.20 Cooldine, 3.50 Catch Twenty Two, 4.25 Lurgan, 4.55 Asian Royale, 5.25 Oscar Lobby. WINCANTON: 2.20 Danny Zuko, 2.55 Hydromatic, 3.25 Poppy Maroon, 4.00 KARANJA (NAP), 4.30 Marsam, 5.00 Bewleys Guest, 5.30 Indian Sage. WOLVERHAMPTON: 6.50 Howards Tipple, 7.20 Danetime Lord, 7.50 Gyration, 8.20 Climate, 8.50 Calculating, 9.20 Supercast. DOUBLE: Karanja and El Zorro. Wolverhampton fly the all-weather flag on Thursday and Calculating can take full advantage of competing in slightly easier company at Dunstall Park. Mark Usher's charge was unfortunate to run into Buster Hyvonen at this track last time, going down by just three-quarters of a length after not getting an ideal run. The winner is a very useful dual-purpose performer and pretty unexposed on the all-weather so Calculating's effort was possibly a little better than the bare form suggests. Calculating now sits on a career-high mark of 77, which is the only downside in the Bet Cheltenham Festival - Betdaq Handicap. Climate is the pick as he takes a slight step up in class in the betdaq.co.uk Handicap. David Evans' runner is on quite a roll at present, breaking a year-long barren streak when triumphing at Lingfield last month. That victory seemed to have lifted the nine-year-old's spirits as he subsequently followed up at Wolverhampton over Thursday's extended-mile trip. Climate remains on a mark of 54 after that success and given he was some 14lb higher at this point last year, he makes plenty of appeal. Karanja is a class act and he can go well in Wincanton's Betfred Novices' Chase. Well fancied for the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham three years ago, he dumped his rider at the start and very little has really gone to plan since. The nine-year-old took a while to get off the mark over hurdles - he was unlucky enough to bump into Denman on his second outing - and he has largely failed to live up to his early promise. Karanja won a decent race at Newbury in November 2006 but was then sidelined until last month, when he returned to make a winning bow over fences at Taunton. He did not look fully wound-up when beating Leading Attraction by half a length but demonstrated a fine fencing technique and should surely improve for the experience. Companero made a promising start to his British career at Ayr last month and he can build on that with victory in the Langholm Novices' Hurdle at Carlisle. The eight-year-old was unbeaten in three Irish point-to-points before being snapped up by Howard Johnson, creating a favourable impression when beaten just a length and a quarter in second on his debut under Rules. That run was all the more meritorious given that Companero had been off the track since December 2006. Although he is a chaser in the making, Johnson's charge should prove smart enough here. El Zorro can complete a hat-trick in the Bet FA Cup - Betdaq Handicap Hurdle at Lingfield. Neil King's French recruit looks pretty smart and is two from two in Britain, most recently striking in a fair event at Newbury last week. He romped home by 12 lengths that day and is probably going to shoot up the ratings as a result - hence King being keen to turn him out quickly under a penalty. El Zorro can easily shrug off that extra 7lb and a step back to just under two and a half miles should not present any problems. Lysander is another who makes a quick return in the Bet Cheltenham Festival - Betdaq Handicap Chase. He has put in two pleasing efforts since coming back from a long lay-off and does not look to be done with yet.
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