4.15pm Musselburgh - 5f Novice Stakes
This looks a nice little contest on paper, with the recent last-time-out winner Winchurch shouldering a penalty on Sunday. If he were to defy that then he could be a very nice type for the Mick Appleby team, but he does have to give Do It Now 5lbs in the weights, and I feel the latter could very much come on for his recent racecourse debut and win this on Sunday.
Adrian Keatley is a trainer that is starting to do well with this sort, and he showed that last season with Ballymount Boy who ran well in these colours before getting snapped up by Wathnan Racing, a very powerful outfit in the flat racing world.
Do It Now was a pretty well supported market leader on his debut at Kempton 20 days ago, and looked to be the winner in waiting throughout, but was just collared close home by an Eve Johnson Houghton horse, a yard that does very well with their early season 2yo's. Do It Now pulled a further 4 lengths plus to the 3rd placed horse, and was probably a little unlucky to bump into one who was clearly up for the task in Eve's Pont Neuf.
That will set Do It Now right for this, and although this is a pretty strong contest to the eye, I think the son of Bungle Inthejungle could prove a little too good for the rest of these and the price tag of £60,000 as a yearling (he did cost 6,500gns as a foal) could suggest he looks a nice type. Plus with that run under his belt from last time, it will set him up nicely here. If he were to win nicely here on Sunday, maybe expect a few sniffing around him like Ballymount Boy last season.
One to keep a close eye on is Barrak for Kevin Ryan, who knows how to get one ready at the first time of asking, and this £78,000 yearling out of Sergei Prokofiev could literally be anything. Sergei Prokofiev has started his first season as a sire really well, with three of his stock winning already and he does look to be a little steal at a £6,000 stud fee.
With the price tag, the stallion doing well in his first season and considering who trains and owns him, perhaps it might be worth keeping an eye on the market and how Barrak looks in the parade ring come Sunday.
- Selection - Do It Now 9/4 (Keep an eye on Barrak)
5.45pm Musselburgh - Sky Bet Extra Places Every Day Handicap
I am all over Individualism here, who does receive plenty of weight off Ice Max and who is sure to be battling it out at the head of the market with that runner, and although Ice Max was a winner at Bath last time out, he holds the rating of 97 here, and I very much feel Individualism running off the mark of 78 could be pretty lenient, and he gets plenty of weight in this contest for that.
Individualism was supposed to run at a meeting up north a few weeks back, but the meeting was called off, and that was ultimately an easier-looking contest on paper, one he probably would have landed, but given the fact he has been pitched in here with a low weight, I think he could be hard to stop now as a 3yo.
He was second on two occasions last year, he ended the season with a decent fifth behind Zoum Zoum (runs in the Greenham on Saturday and is well fancied for the race), and the one thing to note is he currently holds a Racing Post Rating of 101, compared to Ice Max's 106, so he is not that far behind at all.
The amount of weight he will receive here should mean he lands this contest on Sunday, a race where conditions will very much suit the Charlie Johnston runner. He can get off the mark at the fifth time of asking, in his first run of the season as a 3yo.
- Selection - Individualism (3/1)
6.45pm Musselburgh - Sky Bet Acca Freeze Handicap
Now there is a bit of a discrepancy when it comes to Jm Jungle and his Sakhir victory last time, as Racing Post say he was disqualified but At The Races still show him as the winner.
With that being said, no matter the result he still crossed the line in first and won in fine style under a very good ride from Jason Hart, who I have always said is an incredibly underrated jockey. There aren't many as strong in the saddle as Jason, and he does very well with the rides he gets.
Jm Jungle won two nice races in a row last season at Haydock and Goodwood, earning him the new career high mark of 93, which he is set to run off in this contest at Musselburgh on Sunday. A winner on good-to-soft and firm ground, the expected good-to-soft ground up there on Sunday will pose no threats to the John & Sean Quinn trained runner, who is clearly still thriving at present.
No matter what the actual result was in Bahrain last time, he got his head in front and won that pretty valuable contest by a length and a half in the end, finishing the race very powerfully indeed. He runs off the same mark at Musselburgh on Sunday, which could obviously very much play to this horse's strengths, as he still looks to have retained the spark from last season, as we lead into the 2024 turf season ahead.
I think this horse is the safest option to side with in this contest, and given how he won last time out, I think there is still plenty more to come from this lad. With race fitness on his side, and a few in this race who look to be a little rogue-like, he could take full advantage of it and win again.
- Selection - Jm Jungle (6/1)
All prices are from Planet Sport Bet and are subject to change
All previews and tips provided by @ Jake Russell