Friday 21st December

ASCOT 3.05 -

This is a Class 3 race over an extended 2 miles and 5 furlongs and Going is soft, after a lot of rain I think stamina will be at a premium here and hard to look too far past LE MUSEE and NO NO JULIET towards the head of the market. Both are around 9/2 to 5/1 range and I will play a small reverse forecast on them. I would not put anyone off a win or crafty each way saver and if I had to pick between the pair i would just fancy LE MUSEE to come out on top between the pair.

Near the bottom of the market though and a horse with proven stamina and aptitude in the mud lurks HIT THE HIGHWAY, Chris Gordon loves to have a tilt at races like this and to freshen up horses. HIT THE HIGHWAY ran well for a way on seasonal return and ticks many boxes in terms of Going and Trip that others can't. IF that run has bought him on enough he could do some damage at big Odds with some bookies enhancing places. One for the Tracker whatever happens today.

UTTOXETER 1.10 -

A very competitive race over just short of 3 miles and a Class 4 race. I was going to swerve this simply because there were 3 that I wanted a small punt on, but could not pick between them. The fact that VOLT FACE looks like a non runner now makes the decision simpler but still a few real dangers as my tips are speculative. MOONLIGHT DANCER makes handicap debut and could be anything and has a nice long distance pedigree, BALLYMAGROARTY BOY hosed in last time, is clobbered by a penalty and that just puts me off, DESERT DE BRUYERE has won at 2 and a half miles and has 3 mile winning P2P form and looks a long term prospect to follow in to 2019 and old MOIDORE is the type to "pop up" but been regressing now for too long for my tastes.

However from good Yards come ON THE ROAD and GRAY DAY both of whom look tailor made for conditions, have shown more than enough glimmers of potential and both have had recent runs and if anything step slightly in to calmer waters here. Both run off effective "top weight" but the handicap is somewhat compressed. ON THE ROAD was highly tried last season after finishing the previous one with 3 straight wins and this looks a more sensible opportunity and GRAY DAY was a nice prospect before a year off and this is definitely easier than recent come-back race, in which much of the old ability was clearly evident.

These are speculative selections but should give us a good run for our money in trying conditions.