Musselburgh Placepot: Friday May 4

Simon Baker
04 May 2012

Mark Johnston has a couple of live chances at Musselburgh today

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It's Musselburgh for today's placepot for Timeform's Simon Baker...

Muffin McLeay...is the least exposed member of the field and could take plenty of pegging back if getting the run of the race.

14:00 - It's not hard to see why Wild Sauce is favourite for the opener, as there's a fair chance she'll bag the rail from the inside draw, something that's generally an advantage at the track. She's well worth sticking in the placepot, along with Phoenix Clubs, who shaped okay at Redcar on her reappearance at a time when Paul Midgley's horses didn't seem quite in top form. She'll probably be held up too, meaning we've got both tactical angles covered.

14:30 - The second leg is potentially one of the more interesting northern maidens of the season so far with plenty of leading stables represented. The one that leaps off the page is Limit Up, who cost plenty and represents a trainer in Mark Johnston who has made a strong start with his juveniles. It's a field solely comprised of newcomers, so there's obviously a need for a second selection, and Bryan Smart's Boxing Shadows, who is the earliest foal in the field, also makes plenty of appeal.

15:00 - The two most interesting horses in the third are the turf/handicap debutants, namely Clayton and Prussian. It's definitely worth taking one of them, and it's the filly Prussian who gets the nod, simply because she's got a similar level of form to Clayton, yet has a 7 lb lower mark. Getting some experience on turf in is no bad idea, and Silver Blaze appeals on that score, especially when considering the strength of some of his maiden form from last backend.

15:30 - The fourth leg race is full of hold-up horses, and now that the front-running Vito Volterra has been declared a non-runner it's crying out for one of the jockeys to grasp the nettle and go forward. The one that appeals as most likely to do just that is Lee Newman on Muffin McLeay, who is the least exposed member of the field and could take plenty of pegging back if getting the run of the race. Borug and Judicious were both eye-catchers last time, massively so in the case of the latter, but there's no harm in keeping things affordable, so this looks a good spot for a banker.

16:00 - There are plenty of interesting horses in te seven-furlong handicap, with Snow Bay and Imperial Djay both appealing as ones to keep a beady eye on over the coming weeks. Today might not be the day for that duo, however, and a couple that make a bit more appeal are Naabegha (record suggests a tight seven furlongs is his optimum) and Powerful Presence (last-time form couldn't be working out any better).

16:30 - Ad Value is the one that makes obvious appeal in leg six, simply because he might be one of a few still on the up in a race stuffed full of exposed horses. He's not far off a banker, but it's trappy enough to justify a second selection in the shape of Categorical, who is chucked in on jumps form and pulled six lengths clear of a next-time winner with Triumph Hurdle hero Countrywide Flame when last seen on the Flat at Redcar in October.

Selections:

14:00 - 1, 2
14:30 - 2, 8
15:00 - 2, 4
15:30 - 4
16:00 - 5, 12
16:30 - 9, 11
= 32 lines