7:00 Kempton Tips

Lion of Mali was unplaced in three novice races over six furlongs last year but immediately improved when stepped up to seven furlongs in a handicap, finishing 2nd at Newcastle in December. He improved further to win at Wolverhampton last month and then defied a 3 lb rise to win again at Kempton last week. He is up another 3 lb here but must have a great chance of completing the hat-trick.

Three-year-old handicaps at this stage of the season are very tricky races because some of the runners may have lots of untapped improvement to come, some may not have trained on, and most have little experience. It may be worth chancing Storm Point against the favourite. Storm Point definitely showed some promise at two, and comes from a yard that is very adept at placing their horses in winnable races.

Four career runs for the 3yo, form 3133. Two narrow defeats in his two runs this year. A career-high RPR rating posted three weeks ago, which was his polytrack debut, and maybe the front-running didn’t suit him. On a winnable mark, and the returning jockey was in the saddle when winning by a cosy 2L last Oct.

Deluded only missed out by a neck on debut last Aug when second, so we know he can run well when fresh. In Sept he won after easing towards the post, which makes me think there is a lot more in the tank for this handicap debut.