Juliette's weekly frolic
For the second time in a fortnight Haydock Park lost a mag nificent Saturday card, and, with Newcastle faring no better, what promised to be a trailblazing month for Northern racing, ended up a depressing catalogue of cancellations. As a result, an ever-growing band of top handicap 'chasers have been rolling from course to course, like a snowballing jackpot destined never to be won. Swelled by last weekend's recruits this star-spangled ' field' now moves on to contest the Great Yorkshire 'Chase. With Lady Luck cold-shouldering the North, it's probably just as well that the Jockey Club counts Doncaster among its Midlands courses.
All that fruitless loading and unloading of horseboxes has given trainers and their staff plenty to complain about, but it will be the turn of us punters to frown this Saturday when perhaps a dozen of the past , month's fancies line-up at the same starting gate. Shall I stand by the twice fogged-off recommendation, Charlie Potheen? Or tread new ground with the Northern ' National ' hope, Canharis, the Irishman, Garoupe, or the smart hunter 'chaser, King's Lure? What ddds Wills finalist Clever Scot, over a distance (3} miles) more to his liking and a price (7-1 on Wednesday) more to mine? And then again there's that old friend, Spanish Steps, one of the few runners to have had this as his objective all along and about the only one unaffected by a general rise in weights.
Ladbrokes and Hills sponsor their customary Saturday hurdles and these races are also likely to feature a large number of re-routed runners. At Doncaster, French Legend is my fancy for the Hills race; while down at Kempton, it's a question of finding something to beat Fred Winter's Lanzarotte. Mon Plaisir, if recovered from his runny nose, could do something for his tarnished reputation, but I prefer to stick with an old flame in Traite de Paix, whose second to Executive on Boxing Day has been followed by a series of abortive Saturday trips.
In his first run over fences, My Virginian unseated Michael Dickinson, but he has since finished second in a three-miler at Newcastle and with some of the country's .top novices to practice against at home, could surprise his more experienced rivals at Doncaster on Friday (3.30).
Assets: £93.08. Outlay: C2 to win Spanish Steps, French Legend and My Virginian, £1 ew Traite de Paix.
Five to follow, assets: £13.52. had no idea that the voluntary scheme they wanted would have had the opposite results from the ones they wished. The only seemingly valid point made was that a voluntary scheme would avoid form-filling, red tape and inquiry into means.
The fact is that there will be no form-filling or other formality for the applicant. The only form to be completed will be the one the solicitor completes to authenticate his claim upon the Legal Aid Fund. This will require no more than the signature of the applicant confirming that the information about his means is correct. The financial details thus required are simple in the extreme as will be apparent when the form is published.
It would be as well to deal, also, with the criticism of the £25 ' limit ' on expenditure. This has been widely misunderstood. The figure of £25 is no more than the point at which expenditure must not be incurred without obtaining authority to do so. No delay or form-filling or further inquiry into means will be necessary nor will any additional contribution (if any) be required. Indeed, the applicant need not know something about a limit. It is the solicitor who must obtain the necessary protection by obtaining the authority.
The Law Society appreciates the anxieties that have been entertained by CAB workers and is glad that these have now been dispelled. It should be added that it was thought in earlier stages that applicants would be required to fill up a form and undergo a further inquiry into means but fortunate ly, and somewhat surprisingly, this is not so. There is in fact no limit whatsoever upon the expenditure that can be incurred provided it is reasonable.
It is unfortunate that no inform ation or instruction about the scheme can yet be released because these could be misleading if issued before the regulations have been finally settled and approved by Parliament, but as soon as possible the necessary information will be given and it is expected that it will prove completely reassuring to those who had been misled by quite unfounded criticism of the new scheme. It is as simple, informal and helpful as human wit could devise and it is disappointing that there have been so many attempts to discredit it. It is natural that anxieties should have been created by this and important that they should be removed.
Sefton Pollock Secretary, Legal Aid, The Law Society, 113 Chancery Lane, London WC2
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