Horse Racing Tips: Rhys Williams likes a horse stepping back up in trip at Fairyhouse

Return to longer trip to suit

Yesterday was a 'no bet' day for me as nothing remotely appealed on any of the five cards in Britain and Ireland. This fell neatly in line with the start of Safer Gambling Week and is a reminder that there's no need to force a bet if there isn't one there. This year there are circa 1,850 meetings in Britain and Ireland so there's plenty of time to be patient and wait for the right opportunity/bet to come along.

And I thought that I had found one of those in the opening race at Fairyhouse today in Rightplacerightime but the price crashed between the time of writing and publishing the column so once again it's a case of being patient and waiting for the next opportunity instead. Below is the reasoning that was in place for him to be a selection.

Rightplacerightime was a bit disappointing last time at Downpatrick when well held in fourth behind Gelee Blanche but I thought he was never quite travelling as well as you would hope from an early stage. He was still just about in touch at 3 out but soon left behind after before staying on again up the hill. I'm not sure that was the ideal track for him and the ground may have been a bit softer than ideal so there are plenty of viable reasons for him not showing his best that day.

Prior to that he had run well on his first start for these connections at Galway when heavily backed near the off. He nearly turned at a 45-degree angle at the second fence and his jumping wasn't convincing on a few other occasions but he was still in touch and travelling fairly well in fourth on the long run to 2 out. He had to wait for room turning the final bend but once in the clear he stayed on well to finish second without ever looking like troubling the winner.

Rightplacerightime ran well on his only start over three miles over hurdles when chasing home Streets Of Doyen and Flooring Porter and I expect the return to this trip will suit. The ground today is also likely to be more suitable for him than at Downpatrick last time and any further drying out of the ground will help his cause.

There is a concern that his jumping hasn't been completely convincing on his last two starts but the steadier pace over this longer trip will put a little less pressure on that and I think he could be a class above his rivals today. Any 2/1 or bigger appeals.