The Student Punter

  13:35 York QUICK CHANGE  has been well supported in the market this morning but I think he remains a solid bet at 10/1 with 5 places widely available. This is clearly a wide open handicap but we know a lot about most of these, whereas the selection is still very much open to improvement. He shaped as though in need of the run last time out but it is his win last season which sticks out to me.  The son of New Approach made all that day and the horses he had in behind have proven the substance of the form, Amanzoe was second off 72 that day and has run up a sequence of wins since to acheive his current rating of 98. The third placed horse, who was beaten over 9 lengths, has also won twice since.Quick Change has proven he is flexible with regards to riding tactics and, although he may well benefit from a step back up to a mile in the future, this should be run at a strong gallop to suit him. QUICK CHANGE 10/1  -1.5 Points Each Way 16:20 Goodwood It's not often a Hagga...

 16:00 Ayr I made the case for YAASER earlier this month and, although he only finished 9th, there were enough signs of encouragement to keep the faith. He missed the kick and met a bit of trouble in running but made some ground 3 furlongs out in a race where the pace held up pretty well, until weakening very late in the day. That form has been boosted twice since, with What’s The Story and Mostawaa both winning since. Jim Goldie’s charge now drops into a class 4 off a 2lb lower mark and Paul Mulrennan is back on board, he’s been in the saddle for 3 of Yaaser’s 4 career wins. YAASER 6/1 - 1 Point Win

  17:25 Ripon  A race run in memory of a truly inspirational man who displayed amazing courage and resilience in his fight against his terminal illness and thoughts are with all Graeme's family and friends today. The one I like in the race at a huge price is Paul Midgely's LUKLA  who I put up on twitter this morning @_StudentPunter  at 28/1, now at the time of writing is available as big as 50/1. He is 0-6 and his form figures wouldn't fill you with confidence but he's very much unexposed and the return to 6f on better ground could see him raise his game. He didn't show much initially as a two year old but did step up a bit following a gelding operation, with a particularly eye-catching run here at Ripon over a 5f trip. As a son of Aclaim it's no surprise that he got badly outpaced there and at one point looked like falling out the back of the TV, but he stayed on strongly in the closing stages ultimately only beaten just over a length. As mentioned, breeding su...

  16:10 Newbury One from the tracker runs here which is ATRIUM , who on the face of it was fairly well beaten over this course and distance last time out but that effort can be marked up considerably. He made a decent amount of ground late on despite being drawn on completely the wrong side of the track. Charlie Fellowe's runner clearly loves a strongly run straight mile and while there isn't stacks of pace in this, it should be run at a reasonable enough tempo. He remains only 3lb higher than when winning at Doncaster on his final start of last season when he won much more comfortably than the half length margin suggests. I'm sure he'll win another one of these mile handicaps this season and don't see why it can't be here today. INTELLOGENT 's form figures of 707-4 don't exactly inspire much confidence, but all of those runs came in group company. He now drops back down into handicap company for the first time since a desperately unlucky 2nd in the Joh...

  14:25 York I don't usually like backing runners drawn on the wing but I think there is enough compensation in the price of GHATHANFAR  in this tricky sprint handicap. He has some cracking form in the book from last season, with some notable efforts over this course and distance - he was only beaten half a length off a mark of 90 behind Gale Force Maya and was 4th behind Summerghand (who went on to finish the season 12lb higher) off a mark of 92.  Tracey Waggott's charge has plummeted back down the weights as a result of three runs on ground too soft for him and although he's 1lb out of the handicap here, he is still racing off a mark of 86 and headgear goes back on for the first time this season. The yard have had 6/4 and 20/1 winners and 28/1 2nd amongst their runners in the past two weeks and he is 28/1 himself here which looks worth a small each-way interest. I also want SILVER SAMURAI  onside who ran in a couple of the races mentioned above in the case for for ...

  16:45 Hamilton I've missed the fancier prices but I'm still willing to back SOPHIESTICATE  here at 12/1 win only. She has been racing far too keenly over longer trips than this and the drop back to 1m1f should suit. Still 4lb higher than her Musselburgh win last year, but she won with some authority that day so this mark should be within reach. Despite never winning here, she has run well on numerous occasions and the market support this morning can be seen as another positive. SOPHIESTICATE 12/1  - 1 Point Win 17:15 Hamilton Loads in with a chance here but TILSITT  looks overpriced at 33/1 with four places on offer accross the board. He's now back down to his last winning mark and I'm happy to overlook his reappearance run over an inadequate seven furlongs, which he looked like he needed anyway. He won twice last season but one of his most eyecatching pieces of form came when racing off this mark and finishing 3rd at Ayr, behind course specialist Gweedore (now13lb...

  14:40 Ascot SAFE VOYAGE  would be a bit of a trend buster for the anoraks being a 10 year-old, but I think he could have a good chance back over 7f for the first time this season. His final run last season in the Balmoral here was hugely eyecatching, following a similar path to subsequent Lincoln winner Migration on that occasion after meeting trouble in running finished well to be fourth. Migration went on to win the Lincoln on his return this year, and although Safe Voyage was dissapointing in that it looked a run to put a line through. John Quinn's charge is now down to a mark of 97 having been rated 116 at his peak and proved this mark was in reach last year when finishing 2nd in a big handicap at Leopardstown when probably left with too much to do. His draw in 22 should be a positive, with high draws usually favoured in this race and he's close enough to Tylos  that he should get a nice tow into the race. At the time of writing you can get 14/1 six places with two ...