Timeform 1-2-3: March 12th

Tipping / Timeform / 12 March 2010 / Leave a comment

Four jumps meetings, but two of Jimmy Cooper's three fancies come on the polytrack at Wolverhampton.

"It’s significant George Baker takes over now that Drum Major is back up in trip, and he’s off a mark fully 10 lb lower than when second in a much better handicap at Newbury last summer"

The Mark Johnston all-weather juggernaut rolls on and he should have another winner in the 6.50 at Wolverhampton courtesy of Gargano. Having rejoined the stable this year, Gargano immediately took off with back-to-back wins in January, and he improved more still when second to the thriving Spruce at Lingfield last time. That effort looks even better now in light of the three winners to come out of the race, and Gargano has only the badly-handicapped Clear Sailing to worry about to get the early lead. Given the strength of his form, coupled with the limited opposition, Gargano will be very hard to beat, and, if 2.5 or bigger, he needs backing to see off this lot.

Rather more speculative, but potentially even more rewarding, we have Drum Major in the last race on the card (8.50). Two sixth-placed finishes this year don't tell the full story, as the first time was at Southwell where he didn't handle fibresand and the latest, at Kempton, he caught the eye coming home well under a 7-lb claimer. It's significant George Baker takes over now that Drum Major is back up in trip, and he's off a mark fully 10 lb lower than when second in a much better handicap at Newbury last summer.

The closing handicap hurdle at Ayr (5.40) isn't near as competitive as the numbers might suggest and the rock-solid Dauntsey Bay stands out, to the extent that anything around or above 3.0 is worth taking. Though still a maiden, Dauntsey Bay is lightly raced and getting better, runner-up at Catterick on his last two starts, three months apart, and both races were strong for the grade. On the other hand, it's easy to pick holes in the form of main danger Sonara, who's unreliable anyway, and the rest barely count.

RECOMMENDATIONS
Back to win:

5.40 Ayr Dauntsey Bay
6.50 Wolverhampton Gargano
8.50 Wolverhampton Drum Major

These are just three of the tips that can be found for Friday's racing on the Timeform Free Form Website. We offer tips and advice for every race every day at www.timeform.com/free