8:10 Wolverhampton Tips

Havana Sky did a grand job last time out but was repeatedly denied a clear run and ended up fourth. As a result, he is now 1 lb below his last winning mark from when here in December, having won five in a row. I would expect more today if he gets a clear run.

Coming back to the all-weather after a really good effort to finish second at Carlisle, and Glory Hyde ticks a lot of boxes. Has a very competent pilot on board too.

The Ruth Carr yard is going nicely at the moment. I'm hoping that they can get a win from this one tonight over the course and distance she's shown a liking for.

BILL PLUMB gets to take his chance with the yard among the recent winners. This C/D winner and mature type is double-entered potentially an endorsement of his current wellbeing and race-sharp having previously won from a higher mark he appeals.

Should be a very competitive field, and unfortunately, this horse is not among the 7 C&D winners. It will need to make significant improvements for the new trainer, going by the LTO effort when it was 8 of 8 at Doncaster back in June of this year. The last win was off a higher mark. All 3 wins to date have been on AW, so the switch back to AW has to be good news.

Race 5 at Wolverhampton today is a Handicap (Class 5) for 4-year-olds and upwards over 1,225 m. The suggested wager is for the each way on the 8-year-old gelding Dark Side Prince from the Jessica Macey yard. He will be ridden by George Wood. This son of Equiano is a 10-time winner, with 7 of those wins on the polytrack, which is the surface here. He has won twice here too, and his recent form is solid and suggests his 11th win will come sooner rather than later.

Candy Warhol loves it here at Wolverhampton, rubbish everywhere else, but has three wins and three places from his twenty-five outings here, including a win in his last run here back in June. The 5th and 8th placed horses have since gone on to win in higher classes. The majority of the others have not run since. He has had three wins and two places from his eight runs since his winter break and since cheekpieces were added to the tongue tie. Goes well over both 6 and 7 furlongs. The biggest worry is that he has been ridden by Kieran O'Neill in all of the good races, and there is a change of jockey this evening.

Lightly raced 4-year-old, made stable debut in April last year and ran 4 races up to July, winning twice at Carlisle. Returns after a long break, headgear tried today. Good 3 lb claimer on board as usual.

I have two horses earmarked to follow, and both are lining up here: Lequinto and Havana Sky, who was unlucky last time out. As the late Barry Dennis, a bookmaker, stated, he made his living on unlucky horses, and possibly the 2/1 is favoring the bookies more than punters. Going from the sublime to the ridiculous by playing on Watermelon Sugar (I do like watermelon), but the case I am making is for the grey gelding who is trained by Chelsea Banham. She has eight winners this season with four-year-olds and upward in ages, all on the all-weather. She has traveled over 131 miles from stables in Cowlinge, Suffolk, with two horses here tonight. Joey Haynes, a jockey I like to keep on the right side at times, knows the horse really well. Off a rating of 62 and drawn in seven, with being in a grade that he can figure in, a solid performance can be had with racing closer to the pace, like he has done in the past. Possibly needed the two low-key outings, plus the class four handicap when last here was a bit high in status.