Wednesday’s Racing Tips – The booking of Brian Hughes on Fusain suggests a return to form could be on the way

Whenever William Haggas sends his runners-up to Newcastle, they usually come away with a win or, at the very minimum, a strong performance.

Brewing showed very little at Newcastle on Tuesday for Cairnzy, which is very surprising given he won a similar race the time before off a 3lb lower mark, so it's evident that it was an off day for the horse.

The good race of the day is at Newcastle with a Listed sprint race, but that's not a race I'd want to get involved in, with it being three-year-olds and some returning from their two-year-old campaigns.

It's hard to see how they've progressed and whether it's a prep run for the start of the season which is around the corner. It will be an interesting race to watch as you might be able to find some horses to follow over the next couple of months.

Rizzel's racing tips

Fusain 8/1 – Catterick 2.25

After briefly discussing a Class 1 Listed race on the flat, I've gone for the complete opposite for my sole selection on Wednesday with a pick in the claiming hurdle race in the opener at Catterick. I do also like to avoid these types of races, but you can often find some good value as the blatantly apparent picks do get beat in these types of races.

Fusain caught my eye for the combination of Patrick Neville and Brian Hughes. Strangely, he is running in this race over hurdles as he has been campaigning as a chaser since being with Patrick over the last couple of years. When he was initially sent over fences, he won two on the bounce, one at this track, and he looked like a decent enough handicapper at Class 4/3 level.

Since those wins, he has not raced too many times and has had problems off the track, but since returning this season, he has shown very little, so they are clearly trying to offload him if he were to win this race, or they are trying to get some confidence back into him.

Either way, 8/1 is insulting and despite having a bit of a mountain to climb off the weights when you compare his handicap mark to those who have claimers on board and would have to concede much more weight than what they will be doing today, I thought he was worth a try.

I found it interesting that he has shown little, but they are returning to a track he has previously won at, and he gets good ground, which is key for him. He beat some decent horses when he managed to win two on the bounce, so if he can return to form, he can definitely be competitive.

Brian Hughes isn't my favourite jockey, but he has a good strike rate when riding for Patrick. In the last five years, he has had four winners from 13 rides, as well as a further five in the top three. This season he is one from two, so the booking bodes well.

I think we'll know very early if he's still retaining the ability, and I'd like to see him race prominently or from the front as that is the style he performed well under a couple of seasons ago.

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