Daryl Carter's Tips: Five selections include a 14/1 Racing League NAP

• Daryl has three selections from the Racing League, including a 14/1 NAP

• Says his NAP comes good in the second half of the season

• And kicks off by chancing a Charlie Johnston runner to relish the all-weather

16:52 Wolverhampton - Back In These Shoes @ 12/113.00 1pt

I want to take a bit of a chance with In These Shoes - 12/113.00 on the Betfair Sportsbook - who, as expected, has been written off by the market, but she may have valid excuses for a few runs this season, and she has firmly given the impression this mark of 81 is not beyond her.

Her latest two starts have seen her finish eighth at Goodwood and Beverley, but two things both of those tracks had in common was heavy ground and considering she had been pulled at Ascot earlier this year on soft ground it's probably not the surface that sees her at her best.

She did remarkably well to come from the rear of the field and challenge Naomi Lapaglia at Newmarket on her start at the beginning of July when forced to challenge wide down the centre of the track, and her sectionals pointed to her being a well-handicapped runner (82).

Her previous effort at that venue also saw her better than the bare result, having been hampered behind the smart improver Havana Blue (Behind The Scenes in behind).

Her outing at Chester was easily forgivable, considering she had a wide birth in stall 11, so it may just be that she is still on the upgrade, although, granted, it's well hidden. Still, at the prices, she looks worth chancing, having given the firm impression a move up in distance is what she wants (also in line with her pedigree).

The switch to the all-weather surface could also be a positive, given her half-sister improved her RPR when running here at Wolverhampton for the first time away from turf by eight pounds, and her dam was a winner in this sphere up to 1m4f.

This is a wide-open race. Bernadine rates a filly with more to offer and could pose the biggest threat but will be outpaced early, no doubt. The persistence with Veil Of Shadows has not gone unnoticed, and she could have more to offer also.

Still, the selection has strength in depth in her two-year-old form, and this could be the opportunity that sees her take a step forward, while it would be no surprise to see Joe Fanning revert to front-running tactics.

17:10 Salisbury - Back Ithaca's Arrow @ 9/110.00 1pt

Ithaca's Arrow - 9/110.00 on the Betfair Sportsbook - has been overlooked in this market, but he might be worth chancing at the prices as it was a good effort on the sharp end of the pace at Newbury over 1m4f.

That effort saw him clock some good numbers but ultimately fail to stay the 1m4f distance on that occasion. That run came the first time after a gelding operation, and the move back down in distance to 1m2f, for which his only attempt came when a beaten six-length last of 14 in the red-hot London Gold Cup at Newbury, could prove to be his optimum trip.

He has won over 1m4f, but he dictated a very slowly run affair at Lingfield, so his stamina was never proven. He did well in the London Gold Cup despite missing the break and being forced to be held up off a slow pace but made ground and travelled like a well-handicapped horse when then off 82. His jockey decided to take the unfavoured inside route, but he stuck to the task well to only be beaten six lengths by some very smart types.

The drop in distance and now tackling a poor 0-78 contest (thanks to a quick reaction from the handicapper), the booking of Oisin Murphy and the fact that he may get his way out in front are all reasons to expect an improved performance.

Back him no shorter than 8/19.00.

19:00 Windsor - Back Metal Merchant @ 13/27.50 1pt and Metabolt @ 15/28.50 1pt

I like the shape of this race, and the first of two to focus on is Metal Merchant - 13/27.50 on the Betfair Sportsbook - who has improved leaps and bounds this season and arrives very much in the groove, having caught the eye having suffered a continuously denied passage at Goodwood.

That was his second consecutive outing where he had caught the eye, having come from a mile off the pace at Ascot along with our recent (unlucky) Chelmsford second Imperial Ace, and he shaped the better of the two, so it bodes well the other went so close next time.

The three-year-old arrives in good form, and the change of tactics to a hold-up style of racing seems to suit him very well. There's little doubt he will need a bit of luck in running, but he is handicapped to have a say, and he wasn't beaten far in the Britannia Stakes when travelling through the contest extremely strongly before hitting a flat spot and staying on at the finish.

The suspicion is that he may want the ground less lively than this, but he is one that has given the impression we have yet to see the best of him.

His form stacks up well this season, and in receipt of a healthy six pounds weight-for-age-allowance, he should be making his presence felt, and he looks like a good bet at 6/17.00 or bigger.

The other I want to side with is Metabolt - 15/28.50 on the Betfair Sportsbook - who has done very little wrong this season and is best forgiven his run at Galway last time when behind Sirjack Thomas (5th) and can prove that running all wrong today having never looked happy on the track.

The return to this venue, where he was a dominant winner over course and distance in June when overcoming the run of the race from the rear of the field, is a positive. The runner-up gave that form a boost next time and was unlucky not to score again.

He almost pulled off a similar scenario at Haydock when coming from an unpromising position only to narrowly fail to rundown one that had dictated the race - the winner, Paws For Thought, subsequently won the Scottish Stewards Cup.

He sits on a fairly handy rating of 84 and has made the running before, so he is unlikely to prove a victim of his own tactics, and Daniel Muscutt is a good booking.

20:00 Windsor - Back Tregony @ 14/115.00 1pt (NAP)

This is a deep contest and enough for the market to shuffle Tregony - 14/115.00 on the Betfair Sportsbook - well down the pecking order of the betting, but she shouldn't be taken lightly, given this has surely been her target considering how well she ran in this competition last season.

She racked up three Racing League victories on the all-weather last season, but interesting connections enter her today and not in previous weeks. That's highly likely because she loves Windsor, but her form figures of 4136 probably disguise that fact.

She was continuously denied a clear run on her last visit here and finished on the bridle behind John And Thady Gosden's Darlectable You (92) last April on her seasonal return, won in a canter here in 2021, was a never nearer third on her second turf outing and was denied a clear run on her first turf outing.

She shaped well on return at Beverley behind Reach and was hampered by that one before she had the chance to get going, and her latest run at Sandown saw her run extremely free and can be forgiven.

Either way, this has been her target, and she finished last season on a big upward curve. Her best performances have come in the year's second half, with form figures from August onwards reading 111131.

The drying ground is very much in her favour, and she is reunited with Saffie Osborne, who has scored on her four times from four rides.

On the pick of her form last year, particularly when bumping into Dual Identity at Sandown (subsequent Cambridgeshire third) and her three dominant victories in this competition, she should still have scope for improvement, and today has the optimum conditions to prove so.

She makes an appeal at 10/111.00 or bigger but back her win only as traffic issues can occur here at Windsor, but there are stacks of pace in this race, and I mean stacks, to set it up for her.