It's a typically low-quality Monday but there's quite a good bet in the shape of Bleu Pois (2.20) at Musselburgh, which stages the day's only jumps card. The five-year-old spent last season learning his trade in novice hurdles and made no impact but he's two from two in handicaps this term and probably still has a bit in hand.
There are plenty of other winners in the race but they have an exposed look, with the possible exception of Sedgefield specialist Snow's Ride, who is likely to find this on the sharp side. Ever Special is interesting on his first start for the in-form Lucinda Russell but has drifted right out on Betfair, suggesting to me that this is not the day. Bleu Pois, surprisingly, is available at 9-4.
Hucking Heat (3.30) steps up to 1m2f in the last at Lingfield after finishing strongly over a mile last time. Possibly more important is the replacement of jockey Hayley Turner with John Egan, whose strike-rate on the all-weather this year is twice that of his record on turf.
Looking ahead to the weekend, it may be worth taking some of the 7-1 about New Little Bric for the Boylesports Gold Cup at Cheltenham on Saturday. Likely to be fitter for his reappearance run, the six-year-old fits the usual profile for winners of this race and looks set to be the first-string runner for the all-conquering Paul Nicholls yard.
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