Ripon 15th April

[chris34]

2.35 Ripon Decent looking handicap on paper but little excites me when I look deeper. Haajes is of interest having plugged on last time out when clearly in need of a run last time out, will apreciate the drying ground and now only 1lb higher than last win, yard are in flying form. The other that catches my eye is Gask's runner Mrs Penny lightly raced in this country and yet to tackle grass here and might be worth chancing in this weak field to progress on turf having won off a 3lb lower mark in 2008 on aw. 0.25pt e/w mrs penny 0.25pt e/w haajes

[RussP]

Re: Ripon 15th April 2.35 Ripon Hopefully we can get the 4 places here with currently 16 runners for this Class 4, 0-85 handicap over the straight 6f. Similarly to the last bet at Beverley, I'll look at the pace angle here to narrow the field down. It's commonly known that Ripon has a massive pace bias towards the front runners yet, remarkably, I feel that only 3 of the 16 contenders fit that bill. Normally it's suggested that low numbers are preferred but a recent scan of the results show that mid / double figure draw isn't really a disadvantage. Almost every runner in this race has question marks attached to it so it's worth looking at the EW value. The one therefore that I'm be taking is: Esprit De Midas (RPF 12/1) - Is one of the 3 runners that races prominently and shouldn't be inconvenienced by his draw, especially with the lack of pace in this. Is trained by last years winning trainer, who has had his string in fine fettle so far this term. Is down in class and mark for todays run and has a great record of 4 wins from 5 starts when campaigned in Class 4 or below handicaps, against 0 from 4 in Class 3 or above. Won it's last turf start a year ago at Leicester, winning well. Has since had just 3 tries on the AW, finishing poorly in both starts at Southwell, but sandwiched in between that was a very creditable 7th at Kempton, where hold up horses were suited and this one actually performed best of the prominent types. Top weight of 9st4 no issue as, only twice in its 11 race career has the horse had less than 9st3 on its back. Is entered for a much better race than this at Ponty on Monday so clearly the trainer thinks he's ready to race. If I had one nagging doubt, it would be the fact it's 6lb above his last winning mark but I still feel this one can progress and does have conditions to suit today so, at around 10's, I'll be on EW.