Racing tips: Course specialist Corinthia Knight looks primed for his 7th win at Pontefract

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Fantizzy was very weak in the market, going off at 20/1 or slightly bigger. Keen for the first two furlongs, looked to be travelling okay but then was tailed off. I never fancied the favourite and I didn't expect the others to handle the conditions as well as they did, so thought it was worth a shot.

Pontefract 3:50 – Ashington 7/1 (1pt EW)

Over the jumps Ashington needs a good gallop over 4f further than today's trip and preferably good ground, he gets the latter today and I think there's a strong possibility that he'll have a good pace to aim at with Champagne City and Giovanni Change likely to set a good pace.

There's no denying that Ashington was a good handicapper many moons ago and that he is running off a very low handicap mark, but he's changed as a horse since those days. He has been over hurdles and fences where he has won five times and been placed on many occasions. He is a much stronger stayer now as an 8yo and I think this combination of trip and track will play to his strengths. He is used to carrying large weights around, so 9st 12lbs will feel light to him, although it's heavy in the flat racing world, which is always a help. Jason Hart takes the ride, and I only see that as a positive as Jason is one of the strongest in the weighing room and he will need to urge Ashington along up the Ponte hill as he needs encouraging to hit top gear, but when he does I think he could take some beating in this race which doesn't look particularly strong.

Pontefract 5:20 – Corinthia Knight 13/2 (1pt EW PaddyPower)

I put up Corinthia Knight on a few occasions last year when he ran at Pontefract and we came away with a couple of wins, so it's hardly surprising to see him being a selection for today's race.

This horse is very good around Pontefract, before this season he had struck up a strike rate of 6 wins from 9 appearances at the Yorkshire track, which is some going and is definitely worthy of being called a course specialist. He is now an 8yo and his three runs at this venue have been not as good as what we're accustomed to from the Archie Watson horse, but as a result, he has dropped down the handicap at a rate of knots and he has to be strongly respected running off a handicap mark of 63 and bottom weight in today's contest.

I'm a big fan of backing horses who are going for back-to-back wins in races and Corinthia Knight won this race last year. He's evidently not as good as he once was, but I refuse to believe he's 15 lbs worse than what he was 12 months ago when landing this prize. We've seen on many occasions with this horse that he drops through the handicap then wins a few on the bounce, then drops through the handicap and repeats the process. It seems more than a coincidence that his handicap mark has been dropping and they are going for the win in the race he won 12 months ago. He handles any ground, has a good draw in stall 3 and I think he has a lot in his favour.

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