Racing tips: Zenga looks ready for the step up to Listed level from handicaps

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Geremia managed to get up in time at Ayr under a good ride by Paul Mulrennan. He was very well-supported into 9/4F from 6/1 when tipped up, which is always a nice indicator that we got it right when beating the market.

Merry Minister on the other hand was appalling. He didn't settle, and Tom Marquand never looked happy when riding him, as well as not appearing to stay. Shocking effort really.

Pontefract 3:20 – Zenga 8/1 (1pt EW)

This is going to go one of two ways, Purpleplay will hack up in this race and the fact she is above EVS in this race could be a gift, or she has fallen off like I think she has and she'll run way below her rating of 107. As you can see from my selection in this race being Zenga I think she has to be taken on in this race.

I thought Purpleplay was a decent horse, but never one of the highest calibre, and even though this is a very weak Listed race, I don't think she's done in enough in recent runs to warrant her being the price she is. She went to Australia in the spring, and the two runs she had over there warranted an RPR of 96 and 77, which were very bad. She ran well in Group 1 races last year and won a Group 2, but the form of the Group 2 in Chantilly isn't anything special.

I liked the performance of Zenga in her 7th-placed effort in the Kensington Palace Handicap at Royal Ascot. She was positioned prominently in that race but didn't get a clear run until the final furlong, and by that point, the race was already over. She travelled extremely well in that race and if she did get a clear passage, I think she might've won that race, and though she is now stepping up to Class 1 level, based on that run in a very competitive handicap, she is ready to have a crack at what appears to be a winnable Listed race. It should be of note that David Egan has opted to ride Zenga over her stablemate Fall In Love, who is making her stable debut for Roger Varian after running many times in Class 1 races in France last year, on paper she has much better form, so seeing David Egan take the ride on my selection gives me plenty of confidence that she is the one to be on out of the two, despite being more than double the price.

Zenga is by Lope De Vega so should enjoy the rain which will fall. The ground shouldn't alter too much as it's only a millimetre or so which will land, but any juice in the ground will be better than none for the daughter of Lope De Vega.

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