Racing tips: Class 6 company will revive the career of Bollin Margaret

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Bay Bridge just doesn't seem to learn to settle in his races, he's got bags of ability but he just blows his chances away by running keenly. Kingscote struggled to find the gaps, but when he did get the gap I think the horse had more than enough time to bridge the gap with the winner.

Nashwa was very below par. Whether she's not as good on quick ground, or she wasn't ready first time out, I'm not sure, but ther market confidence was there, she just didn't back it up.

Longchamp 3:25 – Anmaat 11/4 (1pt)

I'll get the foreign races out of the way first, and my selection for this race is the Owen Burrow's trained Anmaat.

This isn't a very strong Group 1, even though a few have won at this level before. The ground is described as good to soft, but the sun is out at Paris so the ground should be drying every minute from now to the start of racing so you'd like to think it will be good or even quicker. That will suit Anmaat, and might not be best for many of the others.

He has won in France already, on good to soft ground, but his run on faster surfaces has made him look like a Group horse. He put in a serious performance in the Haydock Group 3 last year when smoking Grocer Jack by 4L. That horse was 11/8F that day having won nicely the time before and had shown decent form in Germany and France. I think Owen and the team at his stables would've been very happy with Anmaat's return to the track earlier this month when finishing behind Adayar. It was virtually mission impossible to win that race conceding 5lbs to a top-class animal like Adayar, so to finish 2nd was a good effort and I doubt he would've been fully revved up for that race, with today's race being their main aim of grabbing a Group 1 victory.

Cologne 3:10 – Dragon Icon 5/2 (1pt)

For the 2000 German Guineas, I think the Roger Varian raider has a very good chance of landing a ‘classic' if you can even claim the German Guineas to be that.

Dragon Icon has a very smart pedigree and is full-brother to Aunt Pearl who was a smart filly a couple of years ago, winning a Group 2 and Group 1 in just four races. Though Dragon Icon is by Lope De Vega who seems to produce many soft ground horses, the fast ground at Cologne should be fine for him as his sister won a Group 1 on similar ground, so there's no reason to believe that he won't enjoy this surface too.

With just two runs under his belt, there is plenty more improvement to come from the Varian horse, who has done his winning on the AW, and winning in good style, even though the winning margins wouldn't suggest that. He must be smart as he ran to a rating of 90 on debut, which is rare these days, and ran to a rating of 91 when carrying a penalty on seasonal reappearance. This race isn't stacked with great horses, so I think he goes there with a great chance.

Redcar 4:00 – City Streak 10/3 (1pt Whill)

I'm not Graham Lee's biggest fan, but sometimes you've got to ignore the jockey and go with the horse you think has the best chance of winning, and I think that is City Streak.

Andrew Balding's horse was well-supported at Chester on soft ground last time out, which saw him get a late run down the outside and grab the victory on the line. I thought that was a nice performance considering he didn't get the rub of the green that day, and did extremely well in the circumstances to win. That was on soft ground, so it's a totally different kind of race today, but he's run well on good ground in the past and is related to good-ground horses. He is only one of a couple who arrive to this race in good form, and you've got to take that very seriously.

Redcar 4:36 – Eeetee 8/1 (0.5pt EW B365)

I was very close to putting up Eeetee last time out at York, but thankfully I didn't as he finished second last. I thought his run at Haydock the time before warranted him a go at a higher class, but he looked out of his depths last time out, so a return to a Class 4 race should really help him.

The manner in which he won at Haydock was impressive to my eyes. He didn't get the cleanest of runs through that day and Rossa Ryan who rode him got a 7-day ban as he had to force his way out to get a clear run. When he got a clear run he picked up well and won with a fair bit in hand so the 3lb higher mark he has to carry today doesn't seem insurmountable now he's back in calmer waters.

Redcar 5:40 – Bollin Margaret 5/1 (2pt)

A horse who hasn't run in a Class 6 race since winning in one back in September 2020 is Bolling Margaret.

This horse has come flying down the ratings, but she has been running in Class 4 races for the majority of that time, and this season she has run on soft ground in Class 5s which isn't his favourite surface, but I thought she didn't run too bad on good to soft on seasonal reappearance at Beverley, which saw her finish 4th. She has dropped down to her second-lowest mark in her career, off just 61 and now she is back in a Class 6 on fast ground I think we can expect to see a totally different performance today.

Windsor 3:10 – King Of Bavaria 7/1 (1pt)

I'm going to give King Of Bavaria another chance in this, having previously tipped up him on his last race where he ran far too bad to be true.

Mick Appleby said that this is his horse to follow for the season, and knowing how shrewd he is as a trainer I think you've got to take that word with a lot of faith. He does extremely well recruiting horses from other stables and bringing them back to their best form, or even taking them higher. I refuse to believe he didn't handle the ground last time out, as he had previously won on soft ground when trained in Ireland, so there must've been something amiss. He is capable of running well on good ground as well, as he finished 2nd off 10st in a handicap at the Curragh last year, running to an RPR of 107. He is now rated 96, so you've got to say that he is well-handicapped.

This race is a step back in grade to what he is normally up against, so it's his chance to capitalise and he can crack on with his turf season.

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