Jef­fery Ross

Rock­therun­way at Pon­te­fract to­day is an in­trigu­ing nap se­lec­tion for the nurs­ery over eight fur­longs.

Al­though Michael Dods' thrice-raced charge lacks ex­pe­ri­ence and plen­ty of box­es aren't ticked Rock­therun­way is clear "best-in" on my time-hand­i­cap. This is judged on his close third on "soft" Hamil­ton ground last month; this time "good" is fore­cast and giv­en re­cent weath­er con­di­tions that will prob­a­bly mean a much faster sur­face.

Dods was aware of that when de­clar­ing Rock­therun­way, ob­vi­ous­ly a pro­gres­sive sort and with his yard in ex­cel­lent form, and op­po­si­tion much of a much­ness, easy-mov­ing Nayef geld­ing jus­ti­fies a de­cent wa­ger. Re­mem­ber the sys­tem, top weights in nurs­eries on good ground? Over the same course and dis­tance Lets­gor­ounda­gain mer­its se­ri­ous each-way sup­port for the list­ed £21,500 Sil­ver Tankard Stakes, a fea­ture race that need­ed to be re-opened when less than four were de­clared. Eight are now sched­uled to run and with three places on of­fer ul­tra-con­sis­tent Lets­gor­ounda­gain looks just about as good as it gets; make sure they all go to post how­ev­er be­fore ven­tur­ing forth. Wind­sor stages a six-race pro­gramme which in­cludes a cou­ple of de­cent-look­ing bets, Blanc de Shine and Ear­ly Ap­plause.

Blanc de Shine has no se­ri­ous ri­val in the open­ing Maid­en Stakes over five fur­longs; just a gilt-edged TH se­lec­tion that needs to be backed ac­cord­ing­ly and so, let your book­ie know you have been. Ear­ly Ap­plause fi­nal­ly gets the op­por­tu­ni­ty I've been wait­ing on when tack­ling eleven ri­vals in the "aged" hand­i­cap, over ten fur­longs. That's the crux, ex­tra dis­tance and with Robert Win­ston booked ex­pect Ear­ly Ap­plause to reg­is­ter a long-over­due clear-cut suc­cess. Ear­ly Ap­plause is a grand type, ide­al­ly suit­ed to three-year-old hur­dles and hope­ful­ly train­er Char­lie Hills will be al­lowed to have a crack at the jump­ing game.

SE­LEC­TIONS

RACE 3 (#1) ROCK­THERUN­WAY (nap)

RACE 5 (#7) BLANC DE CHINE

RACE 14 (#3) LETS­GOR­OUNDA­GAIN (e.w.)

RACE 16 (#10) EAR­LY AP­PLAUSE (e.w.)