Wednesday Racing Tips from Architect

None of the seven runners can be safely ruled out but I like the claims of the Tim Easterby-trained HOWYADOIN (best price 5/2) who has shown plenty of ability this year and shaped a lot better than the result suggested when last four of four at Hamilton six days ago.

A lot of his form has substance, including his debut fifth, as the first, third, fourth and sixth have all won since. In his next three starts, he’s bumped into Rogue Spirit, Legend Of Xanadu and The Platinum Queen, who have all strongly advertised the form at a higher level since and this two-year-old will tackle his easiest race to date in today’s event.

He’s dropped in grade and trip and is likely to go forward under the in-form Duran Fentiman. With all of his form pointing to him being well-ahead of this mark of 60 when he does go venturing into handicaps at some point, he can take advantage of the drop in class on his all-weather debut.

DELUXE MAGIC (best price 9/2) remains winless for this yard in thirteen starts but she drops into this grade for the first time in her career and has finished second in two of her four handicap starts at this course. Both of those efforts were off a mark of 68 against higher-rated opponents and she returns to this course off a six pounds lower mark with Paul Mulrennan in the saddle. 

I am surprised she’s not trading shorter, as she brings the best form-lines into this race and has proven her capabilities on this surface. It’s hard not to see her in the mix at this level and hopefully all of her previous experience of this course against better opponents can transpire into a first victory. 

Brian Ellison’s BREATH CATCHER (NAP) (best price 5/1) has steadily improved with each start and while she could only finish third of four at Salisbury last time, that was a much deeper contest than the one she will contest today and the step up in trip is worth exploring here having kept on nicely in each of her four starts. She kept on well to finish sixth on debut in a good race at Beverley that has worked out well recently and she was right in behind a filly called Mersea, who’s won twice since and was far from discredited when third behind The Platinum Queen at York. 

Given the overall picture of that race, with the first two home contesting the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot beforehand, there’s clear assumption this daughter of Bated Breath has the ammunition to come good sooner rather than later. On the back of that promising first effort, she returned to the same venue and, once again, finished her race to good effect to take fifth and that race featured Rogue Spirit, who recently finished third in the Super Sprint and Mersea, who I just touched upon in the previous engagement when the pair crossed swords. 

Further down the field in the outcome of that race, the horse back in sixth - Fomo, who was a place behind Brian Ellison’s charge, turned over an odds-on favourite yesterday to win a decent pot, while the fourth Rock Opera has won and finished second twice since in better events. Coincidentally, her next task was again at Beverley, but this time in a red-hot class two Fillies’ conditions race and she markedly exceeded market expectations, filtering a solid sixth. The winner, Star Of Lady M, won again yesterday, and the fifth Miss Tai Mai, was deemed good enough to contest the Albany at Royal Ascot. 

Despite being out of her depth, she beat a subsequent winner when dropped in class at Ripon next time and this filly was right on her quarters in that race at Beverley, so there’s optimism about her ranking higher in due course for connections. It remains to be seen whether she’ll appreciate the extra yardage today, but the way she’s been hitting the line strongly indicates it will be the making of her and her breeding backs that up too. She takes a hefty drop in grade and if Ben Robinson can execute a perfectly-judged ride, his mount has excellent claims of registering a first career success. 

Autumn Festival is the likely pace angle here and will probably go off favourite on the back of a neck second last week but he’s already had an extremely busy campaign as this will be his twelfth start in six months and I think he will set the race up perfectly for Alan King’s REVERSION (best price 5/2) who’s fancied to make it two-from-two at this course. He performed with credit over this trip when fifth at Newbury last month, beaten less than two lengths, and connections have reached for the first-time blinkers here, which should eke out further improvement. 

He gave weight and a beating to a subsequent winner who defied a mark of 78 since, at this course last September, that was in a class four event. Upon reflection of that performance, he’s clearly well-treated off 69 and Tom Marquand is required for the task ahead. This three-year-old should be approaching peak fitness now with the two starts this year under his belt and can therefore pounce late on the top-weight and take the spoils against mostly out-of-sorts rivals here. 

Charlie Appleby’s COSMIC DESERT (best price 3/1) has yet to taste success in his five starts to date and has returned a beaten favourite in three of those which might look a little bit disheartening at first glance. However, he’s been really consistent in defeat, showing so much potential and promise in each of them, and ran another solid race at Ascot just under two weeks ago when a rallying fourth over a mile. His form has continued to work out well, including his third on debut behind subsequent winner and stable New London. 

In that race, at Newmarket, featured Missed The Cut who was back in fourth and has won since off 95 at Royal Ascot, Aldous Huxley, who was second, went close in a Listed event next time and the winner, New London, defied a mark of 99 when last spotted too. Just on that evidence alone, the top-weight in today’s event is well-treated off 87 here and his second to Deauville Legend, who went onto win the Bahrain Trophy at Newbury, is another really good piece of form. With the return to this longer trip looking favourable, William Buick can judge the fractions right and finally get him home in front. 

Tell’em Nowt has an obvious chance off the same mark as when third last time but he makes no appeal at the odds and if there’s one horse in this field who can beat him, it’s all-weather specialist STEELRIVER (best price 9/1) who has Shane Kelly in the saddle again too. 

This veteran is now twelve years of age, clearly in the twilight stage of his career, but he’s handicapped to have a massive say in the outcome if he gets a strong pace here. He’s eight pounds lower than when winning over course-and-distance back in January and his latest effort can be excused as he had no cover. 

When he gets a good pace, which brings out the best in him, he’s predominantly charging home in the backend of his races and there’s a good chance it will happen again here. He might not be the force of old and maybe this will be his final season but I think he’s got one more big performance in his locker and hopefully that is today. 

If everything goes right for him, from his good draw in stall five, he’s certainly got the back-class to get himself involved here. I would highly recommend taking the four places on offer which are available with these four firms - Bet365, SkyBet, 888Sport and Coral.