Timeform UK SmartPlays: Tuesday May 21

Newcastle's 15:30 is a fairly competitive handicap staged over a mile but the one we fancy to emerge on top is Rasselas, trained by Dandy Nicholls. The six-year-old has been below form since scoring at Wolverhampton last September but his most recent effort, when finishing seventh over C&D, was much more encouraging as he raced on the unfavoured far side and simply could not land a blow on the principals to have raced on the stands side. With the stalls on the far side and Rasellas being drawn in box one he could enjoy the run of the race here, and he is certainly one worth bearing in mind. 

The final race on Newcastle's eight-race card takes place at 18:00, with trainer David Barron expected to be entering the winner's enclosure with Jofranka. The three-year-old rapidly left her maiden form behind on turf debut at Catterick last month, finding only Shirley's Pride too strong, prior to taking a further step forward later that month when scoring over C&D, beating Cracking Choice by a length and three-quarters. The handicapper has raised her 6 lb for that but she remains open to improvement and is a sprinter to keep on side. 

Our final SmartPlay on Wednesday goes in Pontefract's 18:50, a one and a half mile handicap. Daring Indian hit the mark for Tom Dascombe at Haydock last year off a 3 lb higher mark than today's and, though yet to hit the same heights in form terms, he has shaped well in a couple of spins on the all-weather since re-joining the yard of Ian Williams. With main rival Arizaon John looking increasingly difficult to win with this appeals as being an ideal opportunity for Daring Indian to get his head in front once more. 

Timeform SmartPlays:
Back Rasselas @ 9.417/2 in the 15:30 at Newcastle
Back Jofranka @ 4.03/1 in the 18:00 at Newcastle
Back Daring Indian @ 6.611/2 in the 18:50 at Pontefract

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