Daryl Carter's Tips: Simcock's concealed Sniper can fire at HQ

• Sniper's Eye is a well-handicapped NAP at HQ

• Daryl trusts his gut feeling with an impressive Poet Master at Haydock

• Says the Gosden's have a well-treated runner for Shergar success

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14:10 Ascot - Back The Grand Visir @ BSP 1pt win

He is hardly a prolific winner, but The Grand Visir - currently 5/16.00 on the Betfair Sportsbook - has optimal conditions to strike returned to Ascot. He probably faces a lesser assignment than he has had at his favoured Ascot for many a year.

Ian Williams' runner has not always been trustworthy, but he has failed to run a poor race at this Ascot venue, including this season which boasts some of the most potent form in the race.

His visits to this track consist of an excellent second to Dawn Rising at this year's Royal meeting, four days after catching the eye in the Ascot Stakes when denied a clear passage. Both runs saw him record RPRs of 101 and 103, meaning his career RPRs at Ascot read 103, 101, 100, 93 (second by a neck) and 109.

He has rarely replicated that level of form anywhere unless it came when fitted with first-time cheek-pieces, which saw an RPR of 106, or a first-time visor which recorded 109.

Both times he has had headgear applied, he has improved on his previous outing but has yet to be tried at his favoured course - Ascot.

Today he gets first-time blinkers and returns to Ascot, and all the while, the ground dries; it enhances his chances.

He hasn't won since the Royal meeting in 2019, but he was given a hefty rise in the weights for that and was stuck between a rock and a hard place. The fact that only this season has seen his handicap mark come down shows the high level he was consistently performing.

His latest effort is easily forgiven in soft ground conditions, and his Newbury run behind Sweet William when ninth of 13 may have been one run too many in four weeks, but either way, they are not Ascot, and this is the only place I want to back him at.

The combination of the falling handicap mark means no more than a few pounds off his back, but the return to this track and the fitting of the first-time blinkers could easily see him bounce right back to the runs that saw him go close at the Royal meeting three starts ago.

Those efforts may suffice, particularly given he was denied a clear run from the rear of the field in the Ascot Stakes that saw today's favourite Zoffee finish less than two lengths ahead of him.

Today could finally be his day, but his current 5/16.00 is short enough, and I expect him to drift, so back him using BSP.

14:25 Haydock - Back Poet Master @ 4/15.00 1.5pt

Sometimes in racing, you have to trust your gut when there is little else to go on, and I very nearly didn't put this horse up because the case is tough to make, and perhaps the possibility of embarrassment is at the forefront of my mind. However, I decided balls to that and want to tell you to back Poet Master - 4/15.00 on the Betfair Sportsbook.

He impressed me with his first two starts when winning and winning well at Musselburgh and Haydock.

He pulled like a train in a low-key Maiden at Musselburgh but left a striking impression despite being very green as he pulled away effortlessly under hand and heels riding, but that was very hard to assess.

His Haydock performance was a facile runaway victory in which he hit the line extremely hard and was tough to pull up. Again, that's hard to assess as the time was average, and the race was not deep.

The right horses did finish behind. The runner-up had excuses for a defeat next time but was beaten two lengths previously at Kempton by Merlin The Wizard (88) in a race that had produced three subsequent winners, and the sixth Sherood (third to Poet Master) was no match for Isle Of Jura next time which is today's leading market rival and rated 97 - but it is strikingly similar form.

There is some very loose collateral form that you can make a small case for Poet Master, but it's not concrete, and I'd prefer not to advise horses on this basis, but something tells me this one is darn good. Stall 12 will also take a lot of work to overcome, but this could be a high-class colt who will only improve for the move up to 1m.

I don't blame you if you want to sit this out, but I will have a few quid and trust my gut but at no shorter than 3/14.00.

15:20 Ascot - Back Fox Tal @ 20/121.00 0.5pt e/w

A good race but a wide-open one which sees the top of the market dominated by Perotto; however, I'm not convinced that this is his ideal set-up, and Escobar hasn't given much recent encouragement that he is ready to bounce back to form. At the same time, Empirestateofmind is solid rather than well-treated.

Interestingly, connections persist with Fox Tal - 20/121.00 on the Betfair Sportsbook - who is a quirky customer but one that has become well treated, and he now drops into a handicap for the first time since running within a neck of winning at Chester off 104 in a first time hood on seasonal return in May 2021.

He has been a model of consistency in Listed and Group races and has some powerful form to his name, but he has been tough to put into the winner's enclosure. Today's drop back to 1m and lesser taxing assignment are reasons to be optimistic about his chances, as is the return of the hood that was left off when last seen in January.

He returns from another break, but the headgear is a positive sign, and he has run very well fresh previously, including a win off a 319-day break at Doncaster in 2019.

He may only need to match his form from 2021 to win this, but he has only run on turf once in the last 18 months - a Listed third in which he was unlucky in the run behind Outbox in Doha.

Previously, it was a non-staying performance over 1m4f at Newmarket in Listed company, and that was his theme over a middle distance. He should relish this drop back in distance and is well worth chancing at lucrative odds for small each-way money at no shorter than 12/113.00.

15:55 Ascot - Back Rajasthan @ BSP 1.5pt win

Rajasthan - currently 5/23.50 on the Betfair Sportsbook - makes stacks of appeal moving into handicaps for the first time now his stamina is to be drawn out.

The John and Thady Gosden runner is completely unexposed, and the form he has already shown suggests this opening rating of 87 is well within his grasp.

He went off a 6/4 favourite on debut at Yarmouth, a venue in which the Gosdens have done remarkably well with their two-year-olds in the past five years (34%), and that's because they tend to send their better ones to that track.

Still, on debut, he was held up in the depths of midfield off a slow gallop and had no room to operate until once inside the final 100 yards, and he stayed on nicely in the closing stages. The winner of that race was Knight, now rated 108 and a recent fourth beaten two lengths in the Group 3 Thoroughbred Stakes at Goodwood, while the second bolted up next time by five lengths and has yet to be seen.

He moved up to 1m next time at Newbury on soft ground when racing on the worst of the ground down the near side but powered through conditions and was only chased down by the brilliant Cicero's Gift, who subsequently beat the Brittania winner before scoring again at Goodwood and proving to be a big eye-catcher in the Group 1 St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot (continuously denied a clear run).

The selection and Cicero's Gift pulled well clear of the field at Newbury in what turned into a stamina test, but the near side rail Rajasthan occupied was avoided for the rest of the day by runners. It was a pleasing end to his two-year-old season, albeit I suspect a disappointing one with no win on the board, but the form couldn't have worked out better.

His seasonal return saw him finally break his duck with another improved performance at Salisbury on good to firm ground, which would have been plenty fast enough for him over the 1m2f trip as he looked uncomfortable.

However, he always travelled like the best horse in the race and overturned the odds-on favourite despite needing the run.

With that race now under his belt, he is entitled to improve again and significantly, given today's slower underfoot conditions and step up in distance.

I suspect his current 5/23.50 is a basement price, with the Sportsbook being a little cagey and more like 4/15.00 - already 10/34.33 on the Betfair Exchange - will be more suitable, so use BSP.

16.30 Ascot - Back Dark Trooper @ 10/111.00 1pt

Dark Trooper - 10/111.00 on the Betfair Sportsbook - is a fair price. He is a sprinter firmly on the upgrade and arrives having scored easily in a Class 4 Haydock event on heavy ground in the Sunday series.

That was a competitive race, and he is entitled to take his chance up in grade now in search of the hattrick. The drop back to sprinting trips is something I highlighted when he was frustratingly a non-runner for us at Windsor, and we have missed him the last twice, but his latest effort was so comfortable he makes plenty of appeal turned out quickly.

As a two-year-old, he left the firm impression that he could be a horse worthy of a rating of 100 in time. He might just be ready to fulfil that promise.

He lacks the depth of form of some of these, but he has yet to have the chance to prove his ability in this grade, and the suspicion is the stronger pace will only help him.

He has proven to handle varying ground conditions, and that's another asset in his armour, while this stiff six furlongs should prove right up his street, and he is drawn well in stall ten.

He ticks many boxes, and anything more significant than 8/19.00 is acceptable, and I firmly expect him to see support.

16:50 Newmarket - Back Sniper's Eye @ BSP 2pt (NAP)

Sniper's Eye - 4/15.00 on the Betfair Sportsbook - has caught the eye in three qualifying runs under tender handling. His latest effort, when last seen over course and distance behind Imperial Emperor, was a big step in the right direction.

He has improved race by race and was a big eye-catcher under Jamie Spencer in a Maiden on the Rowley Mile back in May when easily manoeuvring from the rear of the field to hit the front on the bridle and Spencer never pulled his stick through and just rode him out gently.

If you had backed him that day, you would have had a reason to be annoyed that he wasn't asked for maximum effort, but he wasn't entirely comfortable in the dip. That run also came after a 136-day break and a gelding operation.

The winner, Davideo, is now rated 99, and the runner-up is a subsequent winner rated 87, while the fifth was a narrow third at Windsor next time, rated 82, and the seventh is a next-time-out winner rated 86.

His latest effort saw him finish to good effect over course and distance behind one that had the run of the race, and he was worth a good upgrade, having been held up off a dawdling pace. The third was a subsequent Novice winner and is rated 78, the fourth easily won a Maiden next time, and both of those horses were better positioned than the selection.

He was a warm order for a scorching three-year-old Class 2 contest here last month but broke through the front of the stalls, so the 49-day break is not because he has had an issue.

Today sees him into a Class 3 off an opening rating of just 82, and there's every reason to think this lightly raced, unexposed son of Expert Eye has more to offer.

This market will be one of the last to go up on the Betfair site, and I don't want to lose the price on one or two others, so I will have to back him at BSP, but anything 5/23.50 or bigger is acceptable.