Architect Tips has five tips for today's action.
View profit and loss, tipster profiles and get notifications when articles go live on the free oddschecker app. Download it here.
A lot of these have questions to answer in regard to recent efforts but the Kevin Ryan-trained SOARING STAR (best price 9-1) might be the answer to the Free Tips On attheraces.com Handicap at the West Midlands venue.
Neil Callan, who was formerly a regular rider in this region, has enjoyed a good stint in Hong Kong and has been booked for the ride, his first in the UK for quite some time. Kevin Ryan’s charge makes his debut on this surface and, although slightly disappointing when down the field at Ascot when last spotted, he’s placed two times this year off a three-pound higher mark, albeit on the turf. That said, the handicapper has given him a good chance on today’s terms with some of his form working out strongly and, provided stall seven doesn’t create too many issues, he remains on a fair mark and should give a good account of himself as he bids to give Neil Callan a returning winner.
Trainer Roger Charlton has his team in flying form at present and, with the form of FOZZIE BEAR’s (best price 2-1) third at Lingfield working out very well, he gets the vote to put his experience to good use and open his account at the third time of asking here.
He displayed significant signs of promise in finishing third in both his outings thus far, including when just behind both Mr McCann and Silken Petals last time out. The form of that race has been strongly advertised since, given the winner, who is rated 100+, has performed well in defeat in a pair of listed/group events, while the runner-up is now rated 90+ having recently claimed back-to-back events and the fifth has gone in, too. He did well to finish as close as he did, considering he veered right badly at the start before he raced keenly and, despite that, he travelled powerfully into contention and looked to be going better than the front two when making his move in between the pair at the furlong pole. Unfortunately, when asked to go through with his effort, the response wasn’t immediate as he could only plug on to finish third. It’s interesting connections now seek first-time cheekpieces, though, and if that addition has the desired effect, he could capitalise on this good opportunity.
This is an open handicap in which grade-dropper Get Knotted has a sound chance, as do many of the others, but BULLS AYE (best price 11-4) put in a good day’s work when a close-up fourth in a higher-graded race than today’s last month and should have an even bigger performance in him, especially with a stronger-gallop likely to see him to best effect here.
He returned a good winner at Musselburgh, as a two-year-old, and kept on strongly back there to finish third on seasonal/handicap debut in June. That expressed the leniency in his current mark given the first, second and fourth were all rated 85, 89 and 86 going into that event. The lack of a strong pace didn’t suit him when last spotted over this course-and-distance, but he stayed on strongly in determined fashion, beaten only a couple of lengths into fourth. Trainer Ian Jardine had four winners at this venue a couple of days ago, taking his form figures in the last few days to an impressive 215111, while Andrew Mullen has often rode this course better than most. His strong claims can be supported by knowing that a lot of today’s opponents are a lot more exposed, whereas this three-year-old has further improvement to come and retains potential over a mile. There’s a lot to like about his claims, and he’s an each-way player with a chance of leaving the venue with this prize.
This looks competitive despite the small-field of five with regent Musselburgh third Kraken Power in the line-up alongside Stay Smart, a former course-and-distance winner, but preference goes to DIGITAL (best price 5-2) on the back of his good Goodwood third, where he finished a place in front of smart sprinter Twilight Calls and can open his account from an unchanged mark later this evening.
A very useful two-year-old, who placed in three consecutive events before getting off the mark in good style at Musselburgh, that vital bit of form looks the best on offer given the runner-up, Significantly, has had a stellar season. For example, he had chased home the likes of Dragon Symbol and Creative Flair before winning back-to-back handicaps at Ascot, including in the Palace Of Holyroodhouse Stakes. In effect, he’s now rated 101 and there’s no reason why Kevin Ryan’s charge can’t match that mark having beaten the formerly-mentioned off level-weights last August. His latest third was another commendable effort in defeat, where he almost stole the race inside the final furlong and was only caught for second inside the last 110 yards or so. On that evidence, he clearly has mileage off this current mark and a repeat of that level, despite stall one, may well suffice.
A lot of these have some sort of a chance but despite the burden of top-weight allied with a four-pound penalty, MIKMAK (best price 9-4) is significantly down in grade having bolted up five days ago and can oblige again in the finale at Ripon’s venue.
The eight-year-old had been performing well in defeat prior to winning from three-pounds of the handicap at Pontefract five days ago, where he was always travelling the best before his rider executed a fantastic manoeuvre by bringing him to the stands’ side as the pair then strolled to an easy two-length success in a class-4 event. He has to shoulder top-weight later on, but this is an easier task and his record at this venue in class-3 or lower reads an exceptional 12232203, with all of those performances coming from much higher marks. The likely softer ground tonight will be a massive contributing factor to his chances and he will take some stopping if able to continue his relentless run of form this term.
