MONDAY'S SELECTIONS:BATH: 2.10 Twenty Score, 2.40 River Captain,
3.10 Mick Is Back, 3.40 Heroic Fool, 4.10 Alvee, 4.40 Witchry, 5.10
Bocciani. FOLKESTONE: 2.20 Brazilian Art, 2.50 Captain
Ellis, 3.20 Island Treasure, 3.50 Imperial Guest, 4.20 EQUULEUS
PICTOR (NAP), 4.50 Red Lily, 5.20 Mr Hichens. GALWAY: 4.25 Hotspur, 4.55 Dabasari, 5.25
Glitter Baby, 5.55 Banna Man, 6.25 Moving Star, 6.55 Chika Boom,
7.25 The Bay Lad. DOUBLE: Equuleus Pictor and Captain Ellis. Equuleus Pictor can make the most of the easy ground and notch
up his hat-trick in the Clive Parker 50th Birthday Handicap at
Folkestone. The four-year-old scored a quick-fire double during another wet
spell last month and the recent rain has inspired John Spearing to
take the wraps off once more. Equuleus Pictor is nothing if not consistent and after an
early-season win and a string of placed performances he gained just
reward when triumphing over five furlongs at Nottingham. Spearing then ran him again six days later Windsor and he came
home in front once more, defying an 8lb rise in the process. An improvement in the ground saw Spearing bide his time but with
conditions back in his favour, Equuleus Pictor looks more than
capable of dealing with another 4lb rise in the ratings. Captain Ellis has hit the bar on two starts to date but his time
can come in front in the second division of the Hythe Median
Auction Maiden Stakes.
Trainer Karl Burke has seen fit to give him a couple of Group
One entries later in the year and although that looks to be flying
a bit high, he has shown some promise on the track. Second to the useful Pure Poetry on his debut, Captain Ellis
gave the impression he should probably have won at York last time,
idling after hitting the front and eventually losing out by a
head. If produced a little later in this event, it would be no
surprise to see Captain Ellis take top honours. River Captain is bred to appreciate some ease in the ground, so
on that basis he is expected to go well in the Western Daily Press
Nursery at Bath. The Captain Rio colt failed to cut much ice on his first three
trips to the track but soft ground and seven furlongs saw him come
right at Salisbury last month. Sylvester Kirk's charge stayed on strongly that day and claimed
a comfortable two-and-a-quarter-length success from a previous
winner. River Captain looked as though he could handle a further step up
in trip that day and with the ground likely to be testing, his
stamina should come into play. Witchry is evidently nowhere near as good as his five-time Group
One winning dam Indian Skimmer, but he should have enough ability
to take the SOS Legal Software Handicap. The six-year-old has shown an appreciation of cut in the past
and a couple of lacklustre runs have seen him slip back to a
winnable mark. Alvee will appreciate the step up in trip in the Mitie
Engineering Maiden Fillies' Stakes. Bred in the purple, being a half-sister to Allegretto, Alvee
will have learned a bit for her first outing last month and in a
relatively week event, she can gain an all-important victory. | 
