Racing tips: Atakan catches the eye for a first jumps runner at Haydock for Jim Boyle

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Top Of The Bill put in a great round of jumping under Jordan Nailor to win at Wetherby. Hopefully, if you decided to follow me with TOTB you got the drifted odds of 11/2 and earned yourself a few extra quid. 

Raffle Ticket went through the race like a big challenger for the win at Exeter but I don't think he fully handled the conditions. He went backwards very quickly when Harry Cobden asked for an effort, and he didn't pick up at all. I did mention that the ground was my biggest concern, but thankfully we got another winner on the day so that covered the loss on that horse. I wouldn't give up on Raffle Ticket just yet, and on a better surface, he'll be winning races off his current mark.

Haydock 2:45 – Prairie Wolf 6/5 (1pt, Bet365)

For my first selection of Wednesday, I am going back in on an old winning selection with Prairie Wolf. This 7yo unexposed chaser is going up in the handicap at a decent rate, but I still think there is room to get at least one more win off his mark of 130.

Though this is a four-runner field it is quite a competitive event and you could probably make a case for any horse in the field but Prairie Wolf just seems to be on the best mark at this trip and on this ground and should come out victorious. He won last time out by 3.5L at Catterick and that should've been further but he clattered the final fence and that gave the horses in behind a bit of hope, which saw the winning distance be shorter than it deserved to be. The form looks strong as Prairie Wolf was giving away 19lbs to the runner-up and he won at Wetherby on the bridle yesterday and was a horse in form when getting battered by Prairie Wolf. The third-placed horse was running a big race at Wetherby yesterday over 3m and looked a big danger to the winner but he didn't quite see the trip out, but he will be a player in a similar grade back over 2m 3-4f.

The form of the Cheltenham run before last time out has been boosted by Ginny's Destiny who has since finished 2nd in the Turners Grade 1 at the Cheltenham Festival. Blow Your Wad (6th) won a Grade 2 at Kempton on his next start and even Theatre Man was the favourite for the Plate at Cheltenham last week before falling very early into the race, but the strength coming in for him suggests he was going to run a huge race. Even further down the Cheltenham form, you had Unexpected Party in 9th who went on to win last week in the Grand Annual, so the form looks fairly bulletproof. The ground is going to get a bit more testing and might turn to heavy all around, so Prairie Wolf will have to prove he handles this ground, but based on how well he handled soft ground I think he should be fine.

Haydock 3:50 – Atakan 17/2 (0.5pt EW, WilliamHill)

My somewhat riskier bet of the day comes later on in the day at Haydock with Atakan.

This race is over 3m 5f on soft ground (heavy in places) and it is going to be a real slog out there, so needing a true stayer is a must. My fancy for this race, Atakan, has had a strange career to date, but I think there is something to work with off a mark of 114. This lad has clearly had his problems as prior to late February of this year he wasn't seen for 420 days and that came on the back of a win in the Sussex National at Plumpton over 3m 5f on soft ground when he was trained by Joe Tizzard. He has since moved to Jim Boyle's yard and has changed owners, and I thought he shaped better than the final result appeared at Plumpton a few weeks ago. He was evidently going to need the run and that was over a trip which is too short for him, so I think it's very interesting that Jim has sent him up to Haydock for today's race which looks like a very competitive renewal.

Jim has never sent a jumps horse to Haydock and he tends to keep his horses local for like 95% of the time, so it's interesting that they are willing to travel with this horse who is going to relish the conditions today and is still unexposed as a chaser with a record of 2/4. Jim is more known as a flat trainer, but he still doesn't send many horses to the Northern tracks and his record at Haydcok on the flat reads 3 wins from 10 runners and a further 3 placed in second, so his bullets rarely miss and if they do, they often run very well, so I think he could be worth a small bet on Wednesday.

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