Racing tips: Mumbo Jumbo has the form to get involved at Taunton

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Zara's Universe kept up the good form for the thread by breaking her maiden tag at the 22nd time of asking and giving us another winner. 

General Hubble jumped like a lawnmower in his race and had no chance based on that. He will probably win races in time, but I wouldn't be getting too involved unless the race he pops in is very weak.

Taunton 2:40 – Mumbo Jumbo 4/1 (1pt)

Mumbo Jumbo is definitely a horse which will have burnt a lot of punter's fingers in the past, as he has such a likeable form line to his name, but he is yet to win a race. I've been sucked into backing him today, but his chances are there for all to see if today's step up in trip is the key to unlocking his progress.

This horse is yet to win a single race over bumpers, hurdles and chases, but that doesn't put me off as we all saw yesterday when I tipped up a horse who was 0/22 and they went on to win. This horse is much better than a mark of 117, I am confident in that, and his current odds of 4/1 (on the drift as well) make him a bet in this. He was fourth in a Grade 3 on his last start over hurdles, finishing 7L behind Complete Uknown. The winner has turned into a smart horse, now rated 152 over fences. The runner-up has improved 19 lbs since that race as well, and you've got horses in behind like Thunder Rock who is also rated 147 now (was 129 at the time), so this horse is very capable of mixing it at a decent level.

His three runs over fences have been decent until last time out, but that clearly wasn't a true showing. He finished 2nd on chase debut behind a well-handicapped horse, who has since won again off an 8lb higher mark. He then finished 3rd in a Class 3 event, 7L behind Solo. That horse has since won a Grade 2 in good style, now rated 147. Git Maker was second that day, he has won twice since. Hudson De Grugy was fourth, he recently won a nice race at Sandown (Grade 3), so there's a good bit of form to believe Mumbo Jumbo can win today.

He is running off 117, but that's effectively 110 as Joe Anderson takes off 7 lbs. Tom Bellamy is the main stable jockey, but he has opted to ride at Warwick with Red Rookie. That doesn't surprise me, he was always going to choose that horse over Mumbo Jumbo, whether this horse had a better chance of winning or not. Joe is the apprentice jockey for Emma, and I think the claimer gives him a real chance of winning off such a low handicap mark.

Taunton 4:25 – Treasure Dillon 11/2 (1pt)

I really do dislike backing a horse from the Evan Williams yard, as you never know when they are fully trying to win a race, but this seems a bit of a weird one.

This race doesn't look strong at all, and the market favourite deserves to be up there based on their recent form. However, Treasure Dillon sticks out to me as a potential improver for today. He is probably better over further, so this drop in trip to 2m does seem a little strange, especially when you consider his PTP form is head and shoulders better than this field with multiple 120 or previous 120 horses behind him that day. But, I think it's extremely odd that Adam Wedge has opted to ride this horse over the stablemate Prime Pretender, who is definitely more fancied in terms of recent form. Adam has ridden Prime Pretender the last fourteen times, so why would he give that ride up for Treasure Dillon, as surely he'd want to be on the one who has the better chance?

Connections have opted for the first-time visor. We've been on a few gambles in recent days, and I'm not actively looking for them, but I feel like everything seems a bit too coincidental with this horse. I've got a feeling the visor would be used as an excuse to the stewards if he was to win, as it will definitely be questioned based on the horse's form.

Hexham 3:20 – Donna's Delight 14/1 (0.5pt ew)

This is a tough race on paper, but as you go through the field, it's almost like every horse in the race doesn't want too testing conditions, with their best form being on a quicker surface so it's worth taking on those towards the head of the market with an EW play.

At the age of 12, Donna's Delight has it all to prove, but we know for certain that he stays this trip, loves the soft ground and is on a very tempting handicap mark. All of those make him a small ew play in this race.

He recently had a wind-op before he was brought down at this track earlier this month when running over 4m. That was early into the race, so he didn't exactly have a hard race and will be spot-on for fitness for today's race. The wind-op is interesting as it is his second wind-op in his career, and his first one saw him win twice from his next two starts. If the wind-op gives the same effect as back then, he could run a huge race off a low handicap mark. He has previously won off 115 and 121, and ran well on soft ground at the time of year, last year off a mark of 117. He is racing off a mark of 107 and we all know Sandy Thomson loves to target horses for these staying handicaps.

Warwick 3:35 – Lac De Constance 6/1 (0.5pt ew 3 places)

The price available for Lac De Constance seems a bit crazy as after his chase debut at Kempton everyone thought he could be very special and one to follow for the season. Granted, things haven't gone great since that race, but he hasn't lost his talent overnight, and I think Dan Skelton and connections have made the correct choice in dropping him back in trip to 2m.

He has been tested in some good quality races, which has seen him unseat his rider, run poorly at Exeter and then run a decent race at Sandown last time around, but you've got excuses for some of those. He is a horse who clearly appreciates cut in the ground, which he didn't get at Exeter, he seems like a quick horse so running him over 2m 4f on testing ground on a stiff track like Sandown probably didn't suit, and he obviously unseated his rider the time after his Chase debut. However, based on his debut run over fences, he seems good EW value in this race, especially when Bet365 and a couple of other bookmakers are offering 3 places for this race.

The Tongue Tie has gone on for today's run, which might help him, but I think around a tight, speedy track like Warwick, we could see a return to form, even off a heavy weight of 12st 1lbs.

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