Daily Placepots / Keith Melrose / 13 February 2011 /

There is no Mrs Melrose, the gene pool in Halifax best described as barren, so I'll be free to spend any winnings I manage with this Placepot perm on attempting to woo Scottish girls (a far lovelier breed) when I next go home, rather than fritter it away on the annual guilt trip that is Valentine's Day.

14:10 - The first leg is pretty straightforward. The form boasted by Highland Valley and Araldur is vastly superior to anything else on display even before factoring in what remaining potential the pair has. Faint heart never won fair maiden, so the official recommendation is to bank on Alan King's Araldur, who should find this trip well within his compass and represents a yard in excellent nick, but you can take both should you wish.

14:40 - The vibes are that Spirit Son is Cheltenham-bound, something his most-impressive British debut at Huntingdon did nothing but add weight to, and he's by far the most likely winner. Cedre Bleu looks set to provide a sterner test than Spirit Son faced that day, but even so it would be a big surprise to see Nicky Henderson's gelding finish out of the two.

15:10 - Temptation is to bank again, Definity having done nothing but impress in two starts over fences so far and having plenty of room for further improvement looking back at his hurdling efforts. There is the potential for Bench Warrant to be over-priced, his handicap form last time likely to be underplayed, but with residual concerns over his jumping we've just managed to resist putting him in our perm.

15:40 - Golden Chieftain looks primed for taking on, while Ravastree probably achieved enough on the bare form of his hurdling debut, when he was a tenderly-handled fourth to stablemate Pride In Battle at Newbury, to make the places here. There's more to come from him and as such he's yet another banker for our perm.

16:10 - This is where the lines we've spared up to now become significant: this is a decidedly tricky handicap, but the saving grace is that we have three places to aim at and just the nine runners to sift through. Inside Dealer is sure to prove popular, steadily progressive over fences this season and boasting solid course-and-distance form, so he's in. As de Fer is somewhat difficult to weigh up, the improvement he showed at Ffos Las last time coming from nowhere, but with a 12 lb rise for that success looking lenient if anything and the potential for better to come, he's hard to ignore. Our third spot is more difficult to decide, but we're going to steer clear of Quilinton, connections quite possibly having bigger tasks in store for him come the spring, and take the progressive Requin, whose pedigree suggests chasing could well be his game, while he represents a yard which could hardly be in better form.

16:40 - The pair may dominate the market, but this is no time to try and get cute, so Mamlook (potentially useful) and Cool Friend (consistent and established) are taken to ensure safe passage to a dividend should we get this far.

Selections:

14:10 - 3
14:40 - 2
15:10 - 3
15:40 - 9
16:10 - 3, 4, 6
16:40 - 1, 9

6 lines

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