Horse Racing Tips: Rhys Williams likes an ex-pointer on rules debut at Warwick

Looked a long term prospect on debut

Warwick 13:05: West Balboa 1pt win 15/4

Queens River is a very short-priced favourite for this mares' novices' hurdle on her debut under rules. She won with plenty in hand on debut at Boulta and was bought for £330,000 soon after but while she will be tough to beat, I think another former Irish pointer could be more of a danger than the market suggests.

West Balboa was a former stablemate of Queens River when both were trained by Aidan Fitzgerald and she made her debut about a month before her at Dromahane. She raced towards the head of the chasing pack behind Rock On Rita and moved into a share of second shortly after jumping 4 out. She closed on the leader on the very long run to 3 out and jumped that about a length behind before coming under pressure on the run to 2 out. She couldn't match the speed of Rock On Rita but kept battling on well to be beaten four lengths while finishing twelve lengths clear of the third.

The third was Doyen La Lutte, who won next time and has since finished a close third in a mares' novices' hurdle at Exeter for David Pipe.

Physically, West Balboa looked the type to improve plenty with time and I expect the track at Dromahane wouldn't have been ideal for her so she could take a big step forward from what she showed there and I think Dan Skelton has done the right thing in not running her last season.

The winner of her point has disappointed since but she might be more a handicapping prospect so I'm not too concerned about that. I think this test will be a suitable starting point for West Balboa under rules and while she might be a better mare over fences in time, I think she's capable of running very well today and any 3/1 or bigger appeals.