Racing tips: Top-weight Whistledown still looks capable of following up on her recent Epsom win

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With the non-runner in Ireland in their big race of the day, it meant only two selections ran on Thursday, which yielded a win and a second-place effort. Nigwa was beaten by a 50/1 shot on the line after cruising through the race. That was very frustrating to watch, but Wisper made the day better by winning with ease under a very confident ride by Dougie Costello.

Brighton 2:50

It's strange to see WHISTLEDOWN out again after 8 days considering she has to carry a 6lb penalty when the handicapper is only putting her up 4lbs as of next week, but I still believe she is the one to beat in this contest despite carrying top weight.

This race is full of horses who haven't won and when you add the results up of every horse other than Whistledown it equals 0-43, meaning Whistledown is the only horse in the race to have actually won a race, which is a big positive in my eyes. Horses are quirky and they can run well in defeat but not all of them want to go through with the task on hand and actually win a race, so the fact the selection has won twice makes her the one to beat in my opinion.

If you watch her most recent race back I think she won with much more authority than the winning distance of a neck would suggest. She was cantering through the race and I think the reason why the winning margin was diminished was that George Bass got to the front too early, because as soon as she hit the front she started to dawdle and lose concentration, which allowed the runner-up to look like they were battling back. I think she was toying with them a little. That was her first try at this trip and it seemed to have suited, but I think the track suited (Epsom), which has similarities to Brighton, which bodes well for today. The top weight is reduced by 5lbs with the claim of George Bass, which is an obvious help.

Shalfa is the current market favourite, and I can see why. She ran well last time out at Yarmouth, but she was keen early on and I think you're taking a risk on her not doing that, which isn't a guarantee considering she led from the front last time and today she should have horses pressuring her for the lead in the shape of Ravi Road who ran prominently last time out at Chepstow. A thing to note is that Shalfa wore blinkers for the first time last time out and that might have lit her up, and they are on again tomorrow, so I feel like she might run keenly once more.

Thirsk 3:00

With a three-runner race, it can be tricky and often very tactical as you often have a horse lead who doesn't like to or usually is run that way, which is the case for PEROTTO who is normally a hold-up horse, but I think they might go for a positive ride on him today.

Perotto was used positively when he ran at Windsor at the back end of June in a four-runner race and it nearly paid off. He was eventually behind a very good horse in My Oberon who is a Group 2 performer and has run well in some Group 1's and also behind Modern News who has been a progressive horse this year for Charlie Appleby. I think if they use the same tactics today with Dougie Costello on board, the other two might struggle.

A couple of form websites are saying this race is set up perfectly for Symbolize, which might be true, but I don't think it's as clear as what they are making. That horse won this race last year in another three-runner race, but I don't think this race will turn out like that race 12 months ago. Last year's race had two horses taking each other on for the lead and set a frantic pace, setting it up for the only closer in the race in the shape of Symbolize. That race was also on soft ground, which is what Symbolize is best on and today's race won't be anywhere near as soft. The ground the night before is good to soft, good in places and with no rain expected and temperatures as high as 20 degrees the track should be good all round, which makes it fine for Perotto and not completely ideal for Symbolize.

Finest Sound is a strange runner in this having been campaigned over a few furlongs longer than this, so it's interesting they are dropping him back in trip. There is a chance that Atzeni will ride him prominently as he does stay slightly further, but he has run in fairly small fields before and hasn't made the running, so they might be content in holding him up as well.

At the prices, I think Perotto is worth a small bet considering he is the outsider of the three.

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