3:55 Galway

Free World has long been on a slide down the handicap, but he did show a bit of spark at Cheltenham until he fell a few out when travelling well. He has come into this decent race of a break since he pulled up after a mistake at Aintree, and has in the past performed well after similar breaks. He doesn’t need to be anyway near his best to have a chance here in what looks a poor enough race for the money. There would be a question mark over the ground but he has run well on soft before. He’s worth a small bet at the current 25/1.

1 Point win 25/1 Boyles

15:40 Chester

Castles In The Air gave me the impression last time out in one of the big Ascot Handicaps that he may be about to turn a corner and come back to form. He is down to a workable mark after competing reasonably in some top handicaps and has an excellent 3lbs claimer on with the vital inside draw. He is stepping up in trip but he is worth the risk at his current price of 14/1 with the draw in his favour here.

1 Point win 14/1 Various

2:40 Deauville

Marchand D’or is one that has done me a favour being underestimated a few times in the past. He is getting on a bit now but my gut feeling is that this race is nowhere near as good as last years, when he finished well in 3^rd. Obviously Moonlight Cloud looks almost unbeatable here and I would love a market without the fav but on this course in these conditions 23 on Betfair about my selection is just wrong. He is very likely to place and had a nice enough season opener last time out when finishing well to take 3^rd behind Lockwood, when possibly the ground wasn’t soft enough.

½ pt win 23 1.5 Point place 4 Betfair