Sunday Horse Racing Tips: Two to back at Hamilton on Sunday

• Mark has two bets on Sunday

• He's siding with an unraced juvenile to kick things off

• Southern raider the day's best bet later on

15:45 Hamilton - Back Vincenzo Peruggia @ 2/1

As I pen this column on Saturday afternoon, the weather radar suggests Hamilton is receiving plenty of rain and I'm going to proceed on the assumption that Sunday's meeting will be taking place in testing conditions.

Stamina will be at a premium and I'm going to focus on a couple of who should handle the testing ground based on pedigree and previous form.

Unraced two-year-olds wouldn't necessarily be my betting medium of choice, but I'm interested in the newcomer Vincenzo Peruggia in the opening 6f juvenile novice contest for Amo Racing. As with so many in these colours, he cost a pretty penny and, while not bred to a be a sprinter, the testing ground should bring his stamina into play in the latter stages of this race.

By Lope De Vega, the selection is a half-brother to the useful Strait Of Hormuz, who himself was successful on heavy ground as a juvenile when trained by Andrew Balding.

While the current favourite Big Fun looks sure to improve following his runner-up finish at Pontefract on debut, that form hardly sets an exacting standard and trainer Charlie Johnston knows how to ready one for owners who are no strangers to juvenile debut success.

Speaking of knowing how to ready one, Karl Burke also fields an interesting debutante in the shape of the filly Gesayed but, looking at her pedigree, I'm not sure she'll be quite as much at home as Vincenzo Peruggia should the ground turn very soft.

16:45 Hamilton - Back Sam Hawkens @ 3/1

This is an interesting 1m 5f handicap and it's a couple of southern raiders that look the pair to concentrate on.

Ed Walker's King's Scholar has been in fine form since returning from a break over the winter, winning his last two starts at Southwell and over this C&D most recently. That latest effort saw him produce a career best and the form has been franked by the third winning subsequently.

There's little to knock him with on form, but I just prefer the claims of the William Haggas-trained Sam Hawkens, who himself was better than ever when readily winning over 1m 4f at Newcastle last time.

He looks a strong stayer and it would be no surprise if he ended back at Newcastle on Northumberland Plate day, though he might not get into the big race itself but would certainly be a leading player in the consolation contest.

A win here will do his claims no harm at all and it's worth noting the son of Galileo already has a deep-ground win to his name, having broken his maiden on heavy going at Salisbury last season for Richard Hannon. He was picked up out of that stable for 105,000 guineas and has already gone some way to paying that back.

I'm hopeful he can chip a bit more off that price tag by taking this quite valuable Sunday Series contest, while the 3lb claim of jockey Harry Burns adds to the appeal.

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