When Nachtgeist finished second to make it three runner-up finishes in a row I thought it was going to be one of those days, but it turned out to be worse as the other two selection after that were poor with Cracking Destiny having a small excuse after being impeded by a faller on the first circuit.
Cairnzy's Tips
Pique 5/2 – Nottingham 2.45
I tend to avoid backing horses who have an endless supply of 2s beside their name, but I think James Fanshawe's charge is worth one last roll of the dice before crossing a line through the name and moving on.
Although Pique has been a frustrating sort to follow for punters, she can probably count herself a tad unlucky not to have one or two more wins on her CV. I had a quick flick through her last four races, and it appears on several occasions that she simply bumped into one better on the day.
The form of some of her runner-up efforts read not too badly, in particular her neck defeat to Sir Mark Prescotts Overture who prior to beating my selection had already won three on the bounce. Overture has not raced since, and I think it was a non-runner for Rizz recently, so on that basis, I'll assume the form of that second is bang up there with the best on offer. My selection was also runner-up behind the James Ferguson-trained Billiegee who boosted the form when following up a month later to win by a comfortable 2L.
The ground conditions at Nottingham are currently forecasted as soft and notably Piques' only win so far has come on good to soft so there is every reason to believe that the current conditions may suit her more than her rivals. James Fanshawe has kept young apprentice jockey Jack Doughty on board for the ride after his narrow defeat to Overture last time out and Jack is a very useful claimer in his own right.
Rizzel's Tips
Felix Summus 13/2 – Sedgefield 1.58 (WilliamHill/Ladbrokes)
Maiden races aren't my normal type of race I have a bet in, but you can't completely write them off as you can still find what you deem to be a good bet. In this race, Felix Summus stands out to me as worth a bet on his first start for Shark Hanlon, with his son, Paddy doing the steering.
There isn't a great level of form from those who have raced over hurdles, or even bumper races, which made me think you can take a bit of a risk in backing Felix Summus, who ran a corker on bumper debut for Willie Mullins a couple of years ago, but returned with a laboured effort this year. I am more than happy to ignore the recent and last run for Willie Mullins as it was on the back of 800+ days, so it was always going to be an extremely difficult task to run to the level he has previously shown.
Since that run in August, he has left the Mullins yard, joined new owners and is now trained by Shark Hanlon. Shark doesn't have the best of records in Ireland, but when sending them over to the UK he has a much better strike rate and his horses are always worth a second look. As I mentioned, this race doesn't look to have the best quality of horses and if Felix Summus can come on for the run in August, the form of his bumper run in 2022 behind Lipa K, who has since done well for Evan Williams, could be more than enough to land a race like this. Paddy Hanlon is a decent young jockey and claims 7lbs, which makes life easier for the horse.
Holywell 7/1 – Ludlow 2.35
Juvenile hurdle races are a minefield at this time of year as hardly any of the horses turning up to the races have any form or course experience over hurdles so you're going off pedigrees and trainer's form with younger horses. It is a gamble to stick one up in this race, but I have always been a fan of Jane Williams with her 3-year-olds over hurdles, and I thought her runner, Holywell was worth a small dabble in this.
Even before Jane, her now ex-husband, Nick Williams was very good at training juvenile hurdles and Jane carried that on when she took out her own training licence, and she often gets a couple of useful youngsters out nice and early at the start of the season. I'm not for one minute saying this one is going to blow us away as we've got little to go off, but the pedigree is a decent one, with her being a half-sister to Balko Saint who is also trained by Jane Williams and was a 130 rated horse in his pomp, winning a Listed race along the way, so if Holywell has a fraction of that ability first time out, it could be more than enough to make a winning start.
Ludlow is expecting a fair bit of rain to land so the ground will more than likely have soft in the description and going off her pedigree with her sibling, she should be handling the ground perfectly as Balko Saint won races on heavy and good ground.
In December 2020 we sadly 
Le renommee 4-05 Ludlow 2-1.
Had Won 3 from 3 at Ludlow all in 2023 and a class 2 this April at Cheltenham.
Ran reasonably on season debut in a hurdle, back chasing today.
On at 2-1 also thank for the 5-4 yesterday