Horse Racing Tips: Hope with Ayr and Exeter pair for Thursday double

• Leading Ayr duo have a well handicapped runner

• Pauling mare will take a lot of stopping at Ayr

• Alan Dudman's Sportsbook double for Thursday pays 16/117.00

Ayr - 15:25: Back Abduction @ 15/28.50

The in-form Hour By Hour chases the hat-trick for this 0-85 6f Handicap, and while he he is very much the 'now' horse, this looks quite a deep race and I am not totally in love with the idea of backing him as the favourite last night with a couple of question marks, and he has drifted a fair bit this morning.

Those doubts are two-fold, as his best form is at Hamilton (a superb 3-4 there) but he would like easier ground as his latest victory came in quite testing and the forecast is for a dry couple of days, so with it potentially being on the good side or quicker, it's enough to put me off. Although the ground was described as good to soft in places early doors.

Abduction goes for the Ayr allies Jim Goldie and Paul Mulrennan - this season Mulrennan is the leading jock with 15 winners from 89 rides at 17%, with Goldie on 14 at Ayr for the season and three ahead of Iain Jardine.

A case of caveat emptor with the two as it's not quite "cash machine on legs tiime" as both are deep in the red showing negatives to level stakes, but Abduction is a big enough price here and he is very well treated from a mark of 79.

He started this campaign off 89 which highlights the drop, but he ran one of his better races of the season last time at the track, albeit over 7f in a race where he got going too late.

The mark is enough me to look over the fact he is usually seen over 7f, and this will be just his second try at sprinting this term, but the ground will be suitable and I can see him picking them off late with a big finish.

Exeter - 16:43: Back Harry's Hope @ 1/12.00

While Abduction's price is attractive at 6s, the second selection today is far from an exciting number and was 1/12.00 last night, but I think Harry's Hope for Ben Pauling should be odds-on for the 16:43.

She took care of some limited rivals on her chase debut last time at Southwell and she fairly sprinted away down the straight, and while she was a little low at the two fences to the line, she can improve again. Harry's Hope looked a hard ride at times over hurdles, so it was good to see her with a more straightforward performance.

The trip looks ideal at around the intermediate distances and the good to firm ground won't hinder her chances as he broke the track record at Southwell with Timeform describing the going as good to firm.

The west country's gain can hopefully be ours, as Sherborne has a lot of weight and Begin The Luck hardly ever wins and looks beatable from mark of 102.

Now ream more tips and previews for Thursday here!