Yesterday's tip Ballinslea Bridge was a comfortable winner at Market Rasen coming home six lengths in front of Absolutely Dylan.
Today we have four meetings across the UK with jumps meetings from Wincanton and Ludlow as well as all-weather meetings from Southwell on the Fibresand and Chelmsford on the Polytrack.
And it's from the Nottinghamshire venue that my selection comes from this afternoon in the form of Neil Mullholland's five-year-old, OCHO RIOS. His latest run was at today's venue of Southwell and was, in fact, his debut on the all-weather. He missed the break that day and gave the rest of the field a five-length head start before producing a magnificent performance to come from last to first to beat the 10/11 favourite Star Ascending 27 days ago.
He faces a 6lb rise for that victory but if getting a better start today he should be very much in the frame come the finish. Neil Mulholland also has a good record when sending four-year-olds or older out on the all-weather. Over the last five years, from 199 runners Neil has had 39 winners giving a 20% strike rate and yielding a profit of £43.15 to £1 level stakes.
Jockey Fran Berry takes the ride and after winning his first ride aboard Ochos Rios last time out, I'm confident he is the man to get the job done this afternoon. Ocho Rios is a quirky sort who does come with his complications, but I'm hoping the penny has now dropped and he can make it back-to-back wins. He has been well supported in the market this morning and at 5/2 he is a fair price for a 1 point win only bet.
