TWO valuable races, each lasting under 60 seconds and scheduled to be run at opposite ends of Britain on Saturday, 35 minutes apart, could provide Tim Easterby with a notable sprint double.

The Great Habton trainer, whose horses are firing on all cylinders this season, will be represented at Epsom’s Derby meeting by Captain Dunne in the £75,000 Investec ‘Dash’ over five furlongs at 3.15pm.

And, come 3.40pm, at Musselburgh in Scotland, it will be the turn of stable-mate Hamish McGonagall to do his stuff, again over the minimum trip, in the £50,000 totescoop6 Scottish Sprint Cup.

Both horses have leading chances. Captain Dunne was narrowly beaten in the corresponding race last year when attempting to make every yard of the running under Mick Kinane, who, in the very next race, won the Derby on the superb Sea The Stars.

Jimmy Fortune has the mount on Captain Dunne on Saturday, and the gelding, who has since benefited from more patient riding tactics, goes into battle with two creditable, if somewhat luckless, runner-up efforts under his belt this season.

Hamish McGonagall heads to Scotland in the form of his life, having recently won a richly-endowed handicap at York.

“Fast, flat tracks suit him and he deserved to win at York,” said Easterby, who immediately nominated the Scottish Sprint Cup as his next target.

David Allan, Easterby’s stable-jockey, is expected to make the journey across the border to renew his acquaintance with Hamish McGonagall, who has course-winning form at Musselburgh.

As for Easterby, whose winners last week included the Duran Fentiman-ridden Favourite Girl at Catterick, he won’t know which way to look on Saturday.

Captain Dunne’s race will be live on BBC1, while Hamish McGonagall will feature on Channel 4’s coverage.

• HOOF IT, a sister of Ladies Are Forever, is fast becoming the star of the Gazette & Herald’s ‘Ten to Follow’ this season.

The gelding, trained by Mick Easterby for top international golfer Lee Westwood and his manager Chubby Chandler, completed a hat-trick of wins in effortless fashion, crossing the line with four-and-a-half lengths to spare, a margin which could easily have been doubled had jockey Graham Gibbons so wished.

While the handicapper is currently struggling to keep pace with Hoof It, the chances are he will aim for revenge when he reassesses the fast-improving sprinter. Next stop for Hoof It is a six-furlong race at York’s forthcoming Charity meeting.

• FOOD poisoning is bad enough at any time, but for Tom Eaves, it proved a costly affliction last weekend when the Norton jockey missed three winners after being forced on to the sidelines.

Even worse, two of those winners were in the feature races at Beverley on Saturday, Boundless Spirit, trained by Bryan Smart, who won more than £9,000 in the Brian Yeardley Continental Two Year Old Trophy, and the Alan Berry-trained Look Busy, who netted a first prize of more than £10,500 in the Brantingham Conditions Stakes.

Royston Ffrench and Paddy Mathers were the deputies on the two winners, while at Newcastle the previous day, Richard Mullen stood in for the ailing Eaves aboard decisive winner Move In Time, also trained by Smart, who comfortably won the juvenile maiden race.

Fortunately for Eaves, he was back among the winners at Redcar on Monday when scoring on the Smart-trained Feel The Heat at Redcar.

• TIM Etherington has a useful horse on his hands in Burning Thread, who pulled off a 25-1 shock at Beverley last Wednesday night.

Without a win in two previous outings, Burning Thread, runner-up in maiden company at Doncaster on his most recent outing, was pitched in at the deep end against three high-rated rivals in the Weatherbys Conditions Stakes. But, under a fine ride from the in-form Dale Swift, he prevailed by two lengths from Coolminx in a dramatic race.

The odds-on favourite, Mister Hughie, appeared to clip the heels of the winner and fell with Jamie Spencer approaching the final furlong. Neither horse nor jockey suffered injury.

Etherington said of the winner: “He’s still mentally immature and next year he will be twice the horse he is now. But he’s a smashing horse and shows plenty of speed.”

While Etherington and Swift had started the week with a winner – Poppy’s Rose at Thirsk – Swift went on to further success at Newcastle on Friday aboard Just Sam, trained by Ronnie Barr.

Previously an amateur rider, Swift switched to conditional status over jumps last season but has now sufficiently reduced his weight to ride on the Flat, with an excellent outcome. The winners should continue to flow and it can only be a matter of time before he reduces his claim to 5lb.

• PAUL Midgley left it late to bag a winner in May, but the Westow trainer was all smiles at Beverley last Saturday after Summer Dancer came late and fast to register a neck victory at 14-1, thus ending a frustrating barren spell for the Ryedale trainer.

“Not before time!” was Midgley’s opening line in the winners’ enclosure. “The horses have had a copper deficiency, and it’s been a tough time, but hopefully we’re back on track.”

Midgley went some way to proving the point 48 hours later at Carlisle when scoring with Silvanus, who contributed to a sizzling Bank Holiday treble for Malton jockey Paul Hanagan, which put him back on top in the jockeys’ championship.

• VICKI Fahey registered her first success of the season on only her second mount at Haydock last Friday when The Last Alzao, trained by her husband Richard, justified favouritism of 15-8 – but only just. In second place was local rider Harriet Dukes aboard her father’s Rub Of The Relic, who came within a neck of pulling off a shock 20-1 success in the lady amateur riders’ event.

• THERE’S more to some winners that meets the eye and such was the case with Silent Lucidity at Newcastle last week.

Trained by Peter Niven, who also owns him, and ridden by Tony Hamilton, the gelding won the two-mile handicap by four-and-a-half lengths at odds of 8-1.

“To get this horse to win is the training performance of the century!” exclaimed Niven, who went on to detail the numerous problems Silent Lucidity has had to overcome, not to mention a dire veterinary prognosis into his prospects of continued racing, let alone winning.

“At least he’s won for us, but the prize money won’t even come close to paying his vet’s bills,” revealed Niven wryly.