Kempton 16:15
For midweek racing on the all-weather track, this is quite a useful looking seven-furlong handicap, for those rated 0-90.
The Harry Dunlop trained Finelcity is chasing a four-timer, however, he hasn't been seen on the race track for over 300 days. He has also been raised a total of 15 pounds since the first of those three wins, so will need to be wound right up to continue his winning run here today. He is really well-suited to today's conditions having won here at Kempton three out of the four times he's raced here (the other run being a second placed finish), therefore if his trainer has found some improvement in this four-year-old during his time out, he could be a very interesting runner.
Sir Titan is a promising looking three-year-old with two wins and a second place from his three runs so far in 2017. One of these wins was on the artificial surface at Wolverhampton, so I am confident he will be happy enough with today's surface, and a mark of 88 may not be enough to stop him quite yet. His trainer, Marcus Tregoning, has been among the winners recently and with the aid of his three-year-old's weight allowance, I expect him to go well.
Manton Grange is another horse who has been showing some consistent form, with a win for three placed efforts from his last four races. He has only had the one race on any type of all weather course, which was at Lingfield back in 2015, therefore, it is tough to judge whether or not he will be as good on this surface. His sire, Siyouni, actually has a slightly higher win percentage with his runners on the all weather courses than he does on the turf, so there are grounds for optimism in this respect. He has been given another three pounds hike in the weights for his second place at Windsor in June, and on a mark of 83, I wonder if he is now a little too high in the weights to be winning this.
Nice v Napoli
Although Napoli ran out comfortable 2-0 winners in the first leg, the tie is not over, meaning Napoli will need to field a strong side to ensure qualification to the group stages. I think Napoli are an excellent side with the way they move the ball around at pace, and I am expecting them to be challenging for the Serie A title this season.
I am confident they will have too much for Nice again tonight, and we can obtain odds of 17/20 about them taking the victory again. If they get the first goal I can see them running out comfortable winners, therefore, I will be backing them on the handicap as well.
Today's selections
Kempton 16:15 - Finelcity - 1 point @ 8/1
Nice v Napoli - Napoli win - 3 points at 17/20
Nice v Napoli - Napoli minus one - 2 points at 43/20