THE art of winner-finding during the autumn is significantly much more difficult due to the abundance of late-season runners, a point hammered home by the flood of horses due to line up at Pontefract this afternoon.

From a punting perspective a prudent approach is therefore advised.

But a small each-way interest on Bond Puccini (2.50) might yet prove profitable.

Bryan Smart's juvenile contests the Maraval Nursery over six-furlong, a trip expected to produce substantial improvement in the two-year-old's fortunes.

To date Bond Puccini has only been tried at five furlongs, a trip too short to exploit a potentially key part of his armoury, that is to say the ability to mix speed with a touch of staying power.

Smart's colt has already demonstrated by finishing second over the minimum distance at Ripon that he possesses plenty of pace.

But Pontefract's much stiffer uphill track, plus the extra reserves of stamina required, may enable Bond Puccini to get that all important first win on the board.

Any overnight rain will definitely enhance the prospects of Aperitif's (3.20) bid to follow-up his facile five-length success at Hamilton last week.

Trained by one of the quiet men of the sport, William Haggas, Aperitif appeared to appreciate the rain-softened ground at the Scottish venue, pulling well clear of a useful-looking field in the closing stages of the contest.

A quintessentially modest person, Haggas first burst on to the racing scene by sending out the 1996 Epsom Derby winner, Shaamit.

Season-by-season since he has maintained an admirably good strike-rate with his Newmarket-based string.

The leg-buckling two-mile-one-furlong Trinidad & Tobago Handicap adds a positively tropical flavour to the card, even though the temperatures in south-west Yorkshire are hardly likely to match those enjoyed in the West Indies.

Having napped the promising hurdler Bushido on his most recent couple of outings, latterly when runner-up at the remarkably generous odds of 18-1, I feel a huge pang of anxiety in deserting him right now.

However, Bushido doesn't seem able to reproduce his decent National Hunt form on the Flat, so preference is for Rebate (3.50), who got off the mark at Redcar in August then created a very favourable impression when second at Nottingham.

Stephanie Hollinshead doesn't get the credit she deserves in the saddle, an omission that could be partially rectified if bringing home the big outsider, Beneking (4.50), in the 12-furlong Blanchisseuse Handicap.

It is a rank bad race and if Beneking can build on his latest unlucky run at Beverley, where he was badly hampered, then Stephanie could find herself in the spotlight on her return to the winners' enclosure.

Frankie Dettori, now odds-on to be crowned this year's champion jockey, visits Windsor where he has several excellent chances.

Dettori owes much of his success to agent Ray Cochrane, responsible for getting Frankie on horses such as Penalty Kick (2.30) in the opening Canons Stoke Poges Nursery.

Penalty Kick lived up to his name at Nottingham last week, pulverising 15 rivals with embarrassing ease under a confident drive from Frankie's arch opponent in the dash for the title, Kieren Fallon.

Kieren's absence from action means he's handed Dettori a golden opportunity to stretch his lead at the head of the jockeys' table, a chance the effervescent Italian is unlikely to spurn given Penalty Kick's positive profile.

In the following EBF Maiden Stakes, Frankie gets the leg up on another strongly-fancied individual, the erstwhile disappointing Hanseatic League (3.00).

The phrase "expensive to follow" springs to mind when referring to Hanseatic League, a beaten favourite on both of his last two forays to the racecourse.

It is hard to put a finger on just what has gone wrong with Mark Johnston's colt, a big handsome sort with bags of physical scope, but the fact the Middleham handler is prepared to have another go gives a clue that the northern raider is in good shape.

For the nap selection I'm relying on Sundried Tomato (5.30), who has dropped to a handy mark and showed he was back on song with a staying-on fifth at Hamilton.

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