WHEEL N DEAL, running as the 6-5 favourite, is eased by jockey Dane Nelson as he wins the closing round five race ahead of fast-finishing FLAGAMAN (Dick Cardenas) at Caymanas Park last Saturday. WHEEL N DEAL is favoured to land the Pringle Cup, for overnight allowance horses, on today's 11-race card. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

RICHIE TODD's WHEEL N DEAL is simply too light to oppose in this afternoon's 11th race, the 1100-metre Pringle Cup for open allowance runners.

Although he carried 55.0 kilos in the 1200-metre Caribbean Sprint in which he placed third, beaten by AHWHOFAH and OUTSTANDING, WHEEL N DEAL returns 13 lb lighter for today's open allowance feature race against a bunch of horses who he had behind him on Superstakes Day.

ROMEZ, MUCHO GUSTO, MINISTER-OFJUSTICE and NASATOL, who all finished behind WHEEL N DEAL on Superday, report heavier than Todd's runner, who was beaten by the two fastest horses in the land.

Benefitting from the Caribbean Sprint's 'invitational' status, which does not penalise performance, WHEEL N DEAL is still eligible to race among open allowance horses and returns a cinch at 49.0 kilos.

Talented cast

Todd has taken full advantage of the weights, calling in experienced lightweight jockey Peter Bryan to make every kilo count in the quick sprint, which pits his runner against speedsters such as the American duo EXPLOSIVE PEAK and SMOOTH-ABILITY - horses who were not eligible to race in the Caribbean Sprint.

The local cast is led by the talented quartet of MACHISMO, back-to-form BLUE MAGIC, run-on sprinter MUCHO GUSTO and the improved MINISTEROFJUSTICE.

EXPLOSIVE PEAK and SMOOTH-ABILITY will break from gates four and six, respectively, in what should be a speed duel down the backstretch.

SMOOTHABILITY comes in pretty light at 49.0 kilos and should put pay to EXPLOSIVE PEAK's chances at 54.0 kilos.

EXPLOSIVE PEAK was unable to cope with OUTSTANDING and SMOOTH-ABILITY at 1000 metres straight on November 19 and should fold under pressure and the big weight.

SMOOOTHABILITY quit rather early in the CTL Gold Cup on December 6 when beaten by AHWHOFAH, making her a sitting duck for WHEEL N DEAL, who should be watching the match race from third.

WHEEL N DEAL could not have asked for more ideal conditions to stalk SMOOTHABILITY and EXPLOSIVE PEAK into the lane before pouncing under Bryan, from where he should hold rivals at bay with only 49.0 kilos.

MUCHO GUSTO, coming around from an outside draw, could be a dangerous contender if the speedsters run themselves into the ground, but the trip seems a trifle short for him to nail WHEEL N DEAL.

Elsewhere on the programme, BLUE MAGIC should have MACHISMO's ticket, humbling Anthony Nunes' runner on December 10 after he seemed set to break into the top sprinting ranks.

BLUE MAGIC, who has returned to sprinting in the last quarter of this year, notching back-to-back wins, might be in for a shock against tougher rivals as it was ASKAWOMAN, who led for four furlongs when she beat MACHISMO on last.

Take LITTLE WASP to rebound from his December 6 loss to MY SPACE at 1200 metres. That trip was too sharp for the Wayne DaCosta-trained American-bred, who prefers an easier pace and should open up on rivals down the backstretch at 1400 metres.