Monday Racing Tips from Architect

SNOWY CLOUDS best price 6/4) made a good impression on his chase debut last month when beating the 120-plus rated Dibble Decker with quite a lot to spare (six lengths). He was helped in the interim by the runner-up jumping quite poorly throughout but he wasn’t stopping at the finish and would have learnt a lot from that experience as Market Rasen isn’t the easiest of tracks for a chase debutant. 

Based upon that form, he’s clearly “well-in” off 101 here having only gone to three-pounds and is open to even further improvement in this sphere. Voice Of Hope might try and take him on for the lead but Nicky Richards charge should have too much natural pace for that rival in the early stages according to the figures and is strongly fancied to run the finish out of this field and remain unbeaten over fences. 

This is wide-open but the one runner who might have flown in under the radar at the odds is the Tim Easterby-trained  BOLLIN NEIL (best price 16/1), who was having his first run over hurdles in nearly two years when running well to finish second on his handicap debut at Hexham twelve days ago behind an improving rival and should be capable of better here.  

He came from off the pace to only be beaten a couple of lengths behind an odds-on favourite last time and the assessor has taken a lenient view of that performance by leaving him on the exact same mark here. He should be fine over this longer distance and will appreciate any possible arrival of rain given the form he showed on the surface on the Flat. He cannot be ruled out on just his fifth start over hurdles.

BAKERSBOY (best price 7/1) has only one win to his name in twenty-seven starts, which doesn’t look great on the face of it, but he’s put together two solid efforts in defeat the last two times and the last time he was seen at this course, he was second off an eleven pounds higher mark in a better-quality event. He is drawn well in stall four and has Josephine Gordon in the saddle, so knowing that he’s lurking on a dangerous mark at a course that clearly suits, a bold performance could be on the cards here.