LAC SACRE’S scheduled foray to Ffos Las this afternoon is just the next stop on a journey to France later in the year, marking a first for Welsh handler John Flint.

The improver, whose last two starts have been on the Flat at Chepstow, is being earmarked for a valuable conditions race in mid June.

Flint said: “We’ve never had a runner out there, it will be a whole new territory for us, but the owners are keen to do it.”

The trainer hopes to claim another horse while he’s out there, which will accompany Lac Sacre back to his Bridgend base.

Son Rhys, who broke a vertebrae in his back in a fall as the season was drawing to a close, has returned from a short break in Thailand and is expected to make a return to race-riding around September time.

Brother Thomas however has turned his back on the sport to pursue a career with the mounted police, combining that with riding out.

A good run is expected from the stable’s Bernisdale if she takes up her Ffos Las engagement too; a pipe opener earlier in the week at Bath having blown away the cobwebs.

Good ground would be her ideal conditions, the trainer said.

While Welsh connections are hoping for plenty of luck on home turf, punters up and down the country will be living the dream and having a bet on the Scoop 6.

There’s a massive pot to be won, akin to a lottery windfall and the great thing about it is the minimum bet is just £2.

For those of us who like a flutter, there’s a bit more logic to it compared to the Camelot mainstay, but often an outsider throws a spanner in the works.

All you’ve got to do (making it sound simple aren’t I?), is pick six winners in the nominated races, which you can find on the internet.

It’s well worth a go.

Abergavenny trainer David Evans has a nice type of his hands in Patience Alexander, a winner at York’s Dante meeting.

It was a big step up from a Wolverhampton maiden and this one may turn up at Royal Ascot.

On this day I normally pace my way up the M6 to Haydock’s Temple Stakes meeting and longstanding readers of this column know it was made worthwhile last year by my 14-1 winner Kingsgate Native. He returns for another crack but Pearl Secret will be better suited by this track than Newmarket and is taken to see of the old boy.

Instead I am off to the airport in pursuit of some sun, as let’s face it the weather at the back end of this week has been pretty grim.

So I’ll say farewell for now and advise you of my day’s selections below.

I return in the nick of time for the Derby and the delights of Worcester Ladies Day, which is sure to be a summer scorcher.

SELECTIONS: Haydock 1.35 Masquerading, 2.40 Pearl Secret, Goodwood 1.50 Baltic Knight