A tricky Novice Stakes race gets us underway for the week and it is Tom Dascombe's Morisco that we will be siding with despite the burden of top weight. There are many unexposed sorts to deal with, but if he runs to his rating of 93 he will be very tough to beat and his midfield finish in the Acomb Stakes can be marked up as he was slow away.
Only one horse in the past seven years has won this race off the back of just one career start - our selection has a useful experience advantage.
Maggies Angel bounced back to form on her latest start and the form of that race has worked out nicely with the second following up at Thirsk. To add to this, she has been handed a nice draw in stall 2 and the jockey bookings suggest she is the stable's first-string.
1/1 in this headgear & 1/2 in this class.
Carey Street was given a patient ride from the back last time out and subsequently gets in off bottom weight here. This gelded son of Bungle Inthejungle looks on a nice mark and the yard are having a terrific season.
Royal Regent would be a major danger if the ground softens up further but the forecast doesn't suggest this will happen.
Andrew Balding has won this race two of the previous five renewals and Encapsulation has to be feared, but there are no obvious excuses for his latest performance and we are siding with Big Country, who caught the eye in a hotter event than this at Doncaster last week.
He travelled up smoothly before fading late on and the winner looks a potential group horse going forward.
Older horses also tend to dominate this race which is a further positive for Michael Appleby's star 6-y-o.
Keith Dalgleish took this with one rated in the 80's in 2015 and Summer Daydream contests her weakest event since her successful debut last season. She boasts Group form at this course already and was successful in the Two Year Old Trophy at Redcar so it is plausible to think she will be good enough to cope with a big weight.
Keith Dalgleish has another cracking chance here this time in the shape of Chookie Dunedin, who is dangerously well handicapped based on previous exploits. He has some decent entries which may mean the yard may think he is on his way back to form and the blinkers have been enlisted for the first time.
Secondly, Pavers Pride who was second in this race last year, seemingly has a big chance of going one better from just 2lb higher. He is having just his second start since wind surgery and has never finished outside the top two at the track.
Iron Mike represents a yard that have won this twice in the last four years and he should be hard to beat based on his recent comfortable victory. He put the race to bed with relative ease, skipping clear in the closing stages and this slight increase in trip is likely to suit.
