Horse Racing Tips: Rhys Williams fancies consistent Mayer to break his duck at Catterick

• Good runs in defeat in nurseries

• Could have ideal set up

• Sergeant Mayer is overpriced at Catterick

• Rachael Blackmore Serial Winners Fund at £205K - Read more here

Catterick - 14:25 - Back Sergeant Mayer

There could be plenty of early pace in this sprint handicap and that could set the race up ideally for Sergeant Mayer, who put together a string of good runs in defeat in nurseries last year.

Three starts ago at Musselburgh, he was tightened up at the start and bumped around in between rivals early on before tracking the leaders. Switched away from the rail to challenge, he ran on well to finish second without ever looking like getting to the winner.

Next time at Carlisle, he was more significantly hampered at the start and that left him at the back of the field. He was a little detached from the field at halfway but picked up well for pressure on the far side to take second on the line.

He once again had to deal with some bumping in the early stages on his last start as a two-year-old at Musselburgh. He managed to hold his position on the rail and, despite looking to edge to the right under driving, kept on well to finish second.

Despite the stalls being on the inside, given it's heavy ground I expect they might all switch to the near rail and Sergeant Mayer would be benefitted by that as he's drawn second closest to the near side. He is also likely to benefit from the strong pace as it should help him settle and he looks a strong stayer at the trip so he will hopefully he running on late as others start to fade in the very testing conditions.

There is the unknown over how he will handle ground this soft but that's also the case for his rivals as none of have raced on ground this extreme. Any 11/26.50 or bigger appeals.

Now read Daryl Carter's Wednesday tips here