Midweek Tipping - Sandown, Yarmouth and Ayr

Hopefully we can continue the rich vein of form we’ve hit this autumn, as it has started out tremendously successful with King Torus and Dream Ahead being selected a week last Saturday, before our midweek nap Meeznah romped home, before we managed to find the front two home in the Leger. Let’s hope we can keep up the good work.

Hopefully that can be carried through to Wednesday, where we have nice racing at Beverley, Sandown and Yarmouth. The eye-catcher is William Buick’s decision to ride there as opposed to Sandown where he could have picked up some good rides for his boss John Gosden, who has three very good runners there, all with chances.

This leads me to believe the fact he has gone to Yarmouth means he fancies his chances there, and his best chance looks to be ALMAGEST, who runs in a Class 3 handicap after breaking his maiden tag at the third attempt. The son of Galileo finished fourth in his previous run, a 17 runner maiden at Sandown. From that, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th all came out and won next time out, with Highland Castle, third that day, winning 3 of his next 5 races. On breeding the gelding could have plenty to offer and, dropped in on a very reasonable looking handicap mark, can carry on the rich vein of form of St Leger winners John Gosden and William Buick.

The best quality race on Wednesday is a Listed Race, open to older horses, and includes a few horses that we’ve already tipped up in previous weeks. This includes the Andrew Balding filly LAY TIME, who ran a respectable fourth in listed company last time out after being narrowly defeated in a handicap, when she really should have won. MIKHAIL GLINKA, now with Gary Moore, was trained by Aidan O' Brien at Ballydoyle when winning the Queen's Vase at Royal Ascot in 2009 and was ante post favourite for the St Leger, so is respected.

The standout however is KING TORUS, from the Richard Hannon stable, which is enjoying another fruitful season. King Torus ran a respectable fourth on his seasonal reappearance after being out for over a year, and then showed tremendous class to win under the guidance of Richard Hughes at Haydock in a similar event. He won with plenty in hand that day, being eased down, and another effort similar should be good enough in what looks, on paper, to be a weaker race than his Haydock one.

A horse that is as tough as old boots is HOT ROD MAMMA, who has won five races on the bounce in an excellent piece of training from Dianne Sawyer, who has placed the horse to perfection. Her last three wins have been over a mile, but appeared to indicate further would be no problem at all when romping a 10 runner field last time out at Thirsk by 4 1/2 lengths, after being eased. Lee Topliss takes the ride, and the 3lb he claims could be invaluable in a race that looks very competitive. Hot Rod Mamma is a tough, improving sort, and I wouldn't put it past her to make it 6 from 6 on Thursday.

4.30 Yarmouth - Almagest (Nap)

4.05 Sandown - King Torus

4.20 Ayr (Thursday) - Hot Rod Mamma

The Yorkshireman - Jack Milner