Horse Racing Tips: Rhys Williams likes a chaser to break his maiden at Catterick

Much improved for the application of a tongue tie

Catterick 12:10: Nocte Volatus 1pt win 5/2

Nocte Volatus has been put up 9lb for his latest performance at Market Rasen where he fell when clear at the last but I think he has a very good chance of getting off the mark today given the circumstances in this conditionals race.

He had shown some promise over hurdles but took a big step forward on his chasing debut with the tongue tie applied for the first time. Always in a very handy position, he jumped to the front at the second down the back on the final circuit and was one of only two still on the bridle turning into the home straight. Nudged along approaching 3 out, he gradually went further clear from that point and was about 12 lengths clear when falling at the last.

That wasn't the first mistake that Nocte Volatus had made and given that he frequently jumped quite low there is a concern that his jumping will let him down again today but he does have a significant advantage when it comes to the jockey.

Dylan Kitts is able to claim 10lb in this race and he's looked much better than that to the point where claiming 3lb in this race would be a much fairer assessment of his ability in the saddle.

My view of his ability means that I think a large portion of the 9lb has been offset by booking him and that looks to give Nocte Volatus a strong chance as long as his jumping holds up. Any 9/4 or bigger appeals.