Betting news and tips: Trackman has all the latest news from the tracks and picks out his best bets from Newmarket

A FORCE of nature is going to hit Newmarket this afternoon.

Charlie Appleby’s little volcano Pinatubo erupted in Ireland last month and looks hotter than a barrel of lava in today’s £500,000 Darley Dewhurst Stakes (3.30) at HQ.

Aidan O’Brien runs the household cavalry in opposition but unless his posse find an extra leg or two they are definitely booked for a spot of shadow chasing.

William Buick rides Pinatubo and slung his leg over another talented youngster when steering Desert Peace home for the Appleby crew at Kempton Park on Wednesday night.

Wee William looked colder than a Norwegian naturist before nipping out to ride this fella but had his cockles warmed by the colt’s performance and reckons he could be a notch above average.

The runner-up Nugget didn’t look too shabby either. Super Sean Levey hopped off this bad boy and said he wants a mile, left-handed tracks and one more run this year.

With those recommendations in mind it sounds like a trip to leafy Lingfield is imminent.

There’s a crafty bunch of Epsom-based punters operating around the southern tracks and they had a nice little tickle when True Belief nicked a bad maiden on Monday.

The boys rolled the dice again at Kempton and came up trumps when baby-faced Lee Carter’s 16-1 shot Terri Rules chinned Halle’s Harbour.

The word is they managed to whack a monkey each-way on this one near the off, which is nice work if you can get it.

By the way, it was lovely to see rookie trainer Tom Ward saddle his first winner when Vintage Rascal lagged-up in a novice event at Windsor.

Top man Tom spent several years working as assistant to Richard Hannon and if smiling was an Olympic sport he’d be a shoo-in to grab gold.

The day didn’t go quite as swimmingly for those intrepid in-running players and their fingers were singed again when Talap was nutted in the opener.

Roger Varian’s colt looked a moral when he hit the front and more than £5,000 was done at 1-100 before he wobbled and got mugged close home.

The jocks felt the ground was riding softer than advertised at Brighton on Tuesday, where a hefty plunge on Christine Dunnett Kraka (14-1 to 4-1) went west.

There are some shrewd faces connected to this yard so don’t be surprised if this fella pops his bonce in front somewhere near you soon.

Rails bookies are an accommodating bunch but I heard a tale that left one experienced layer scratching his head the other day.

Apparently a punter who looked as if he spends his spare time train-spotting shuffled up to our man on the rails and asked what was the smallest bet he’d accept.

“I’ll take anything if you’ve got the right money.” was the answer.

“Ok, I’ll have 96p on the favourite then…” muttered the train-spotter.

“Well, I was thinking of a round number mate.” The bookie replied, obviously expecting the stakes to be raised to a nicker.

“No, I can’t do that….” the fella said, “I’ve only got 96p.” And with that he did an about-turn and disappeared back into the crowd.

Brazilian dynamo Silvestre De Sousa still isn’t walking like a samba king after his nasty fall at Chelmsford. But he’s riding winners and looked properly impressed with the way Premier Power lagged- up at Kempton Park on Thursday.

This chunky chestnut has got muscles on his eyebrows and looks a red-hot prospect for sensible Roger Varian.

Talking of SDS, the former champ swerves Newmarket today and heads up to York where he rides LAMPANG for Tim Easterby in the Rockingham Stakes (2.40).

Tim reckons this colt is the best thing to come out of Yorkshire since Tetley’s tea and he should go close.

Meanwhile, jolly Jim Crowley must be hopeful about MOLATHAM’s chance in the Dubai Autumn Stakes (2.55) down at Newmarket. This fella changed gear better than Lewis Hamilton at Doncaster last time and looks the business.