GO TECH (8.00) is overdue a slice of luck in this evening's top-of-the-bill contest at Ripon, the £15,000 Cocked Hat Farm Foods Handicap.
Fortune has not favoured Tim Easterby's filly on her last couple of outings, most notably at Redcar last week where she was slammed sideways by the sort of knock-about-stuff more normally associated with a wrestling match than a horse race.
The incident, just over a furlong from the finish, cost Go Tech all possible chance in a race she might well have gone close since the four-year-old was making significant late headway at the time.
That particular event was over seven furlongs, whereas the selection now tackles a mile, a trip that should enable her jockey, David Allan, extra time to extricate the combination from any trouble they may encounter in running.
In the earlier Spring Festival Selling Handicap, Karyon, (6.55), an outsider likely to go off a potentially profitable starting price, might be worth a hit.
Kate Milligan's four-year-old showed improved form during the winter when scoring over the sticks at Catterick in January. It was a very game effort by Karyon, who made every single yard of the running and held on well when her nearest pursuers challenged at the final flight.
Eric Alston's team has been in fine fettle over recent weeks, boding extremely well for Piccolo Prince (8.30), a leading contender in the dash for the Black Sheep Brewery Handicap.
It is perfectly safe to ignore the three-year-old sprinter's poor run at Chester in view of the fact he was drawn out in the car park that day. For serious form students, better to rely on the evidence of his previous success at Southwell and superb second placing behind Foursquare at Haydock.
The big eye-catcher at Lingfield as far as betting activity goes is Climate (5.20) in the closing Dunsdale Handicap.
Having only been beaten by a cats whisker at Kempton on Saturday evening, the bookmakers are bound to chalk up means odds about Climate, nevertheless it doesn't normally pay to look a gift horse in the mouth and for my money the well-handicapped five-year-old looks the proverbial "steering job".
Finally to Goodwood and a likely double for Godolphin courtesy of Destination Dubai (7.10) and Imtiyaz (7.45).
According to the official ratings, the former has a bit to find with some of his rivals. But on the plus side Destination Dubai, and indeed Imtiyaz, are both individuals with considerable scope for further improvement.
*RACING NORTH ten-to-follow pick, Steel Blue, highlighted by our new winner finder service, repaid his backers with a 10-1 success at Ripon yesterday.
Get more on racing at our Racing North site.
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