I cannot believe the ride Mickael Barzalona gave Map Of Stars, as I definitely think we should've walked away with two wins on Sunday.
Map Of Stars was positioned in second last for the entire race, but Mickael didn't move on his mount until very late, and by that point, the horses ahead of him had already gone for the win.
It was nice to come away with a win in the final race at Southwell as Callum Shepherd set the perfect fractions on Caballo De Mar who ran out a very comfortable winner on his first attempt over 2m.
Standbackandlook 11/2 – Lingfield 2.15
As another Monday comes around, we have to look at the bottom tier racing, but I did think Standbackandlook was worth a few quid at Lingfield.
This is an apprentice race so it's definitely wise to not go too heavily in with your stake as these inexperienced jockeys do make plenty of mistakes, but thankfully, we have Brandon Wilkie doing the steering for us, and he definitely the best or second best in the race.
My selection has been sixth and seventh on his last two starts, but I think you can look past them for certain reasons. Last time out, it was his first run of the season, and the run before that, he had a long season, so he might not have been at his best, and then before that, he was on turf, which is not his surface based on his 0/10 record on the grass. Prior to that he was third, and before that, he had won two races at Wolverhampton, with some good pieces of form.
Even though his two wins have come on the Tapeta surface of Wolverhampton, he has proven to be effective on the Polytrack, shown by his second at Lingfield over 1m 5f to Small Fry, a horse he beat by 6.5L later in the season.
He attempts 2m for the first time today, and I think he should have no concerns about seeing out the longer trip. When he managed to win his two races over 1m 6f he was staying on strongly at the finish.
Youthful King 4/1 – Lingfield 3.15
Another horse who has been slightly out of form is Youthful King, but he has been competing in much better class races than today, and I believe he'll enjoy a drop back in Class 4 company.
Luke Dace has always been high on Youthful King, but this horse is a bit of a monkey and can be hard to settle, hence why he probably didn't reach the heights that his trainer believed he could. Despite that, he is still a very good handicapper and has won some okay races along the way.
He has been running in Class 2 races for the last three times we've seen him on a racecourse, but the last time he was in a Class 4, he managed to win it and win it by 1.25L. He is 2lbs higher than his last win, but given the way he won at today's C&D in September, he should be fine.
GambleAware