8.45pm Wolverhampton tips for Saturday’s race. Read on for our free betting tips, predictions and analysis.
IN SUMMARY: Some closely matched rivals here and with the five-furlong trip, a smart break may be the difference between winning and losing, though at the prices ANNIE SALTS (Each Way) looks tempting. She likes it here and has won off higher marks and a return to the tapeta surface could be just what she needs for win number five on her twenty-third start.
1 FAST ACT – Trainer Kevin Ryan is going through a barren patch with twelve losers in the last two weeks and will do well if he can win this with the five-year-old gelding who has won three of his twenty-four starts and one from four on the all-weather at Chelmsford in October 2016. He ran well here when a head second in a similar race last time out in first-time cheekpieces which is promising but he does have to carry top weight for a yard out of sorts which may be enough to stop him.
2 BERRYESSA – Lightly raced with just the six starts with a single win at Lingfield over this trip, but seems to have lost his way a bit recently and trainer Rae Guest needs to rekindle his best. His last few races have seen him fail to quicken up with the leaders when asked and as a son of Dandy Man he may do better over an added furlong in time though on his best form he is possibly well handicapped off a rating of just 60 with Luke Morris in the saddle for the first time.
3 ANNIE SALTS – Two wins from four starts here at Wolverhampton plus a fourth and a fifth and seems to do better at Wolverhampton than elsewhere. She has won on grass but may be better in this sort of company these days and on the tapeta surface and could be well weighted now with Nicola Currie’s seven-pound claim a bonus and as she has won off a rating of 66 she is not out of this by any means back here.
4 POWERFUL DREAM – Off the track since the end of August and may well have needed a break after some below form recent efforts for trainer Ron Harris who has had the one winner from just the three recent runners for a 33% strike rate. She has won six races off marks as high as 71 and has placed off 74 so 69 today is achievable when she is at the top of her game but her last of eight at Bath with no excuses leaves her with a lot to find.
5 LYDIATE LADY – The in-form option bar none after wins at Southwell, Catterick and Redcar were followed by a three-quarter length second to Seamster from a poor draw at Nottingham. That was a career-best effort and he has been put up another three pounds for that and will find this company a lot more exacting but she is in good heart and is certainly hard to ignore for trainer Eric Alston.
6 RED INVADER – Five wins and a second on the all-weather but nowhere near as good on the Wolverhampton tapeta as he is elsewhere and thus very hard to fancy. Last time out he failed to see out the sixth furling at Kempton (all his wins are over this five-furlong trip), which can be easily forgiven but his seventh at Chelmsford and dislike of this track leaves him off the shortlist today.
7 PUSHKIN MUSEUM – Interestingly his latest wins here have been over a furlong further but he has won three times over five furlongs in the past but never on this track. Eleven races since his last victory but plenty of places have kept his rating on the high side with a good third at Chester in July but he needs to do better than his fifth to Searanger here over a furlong further last time if he wants to have any chance and will need a fast pace here to attack off.
8 CRUISE TOTHELIMIT – A real money earner for his owners over the years with ninety-five starts for ten wins and twenty-eight places including a course and distance win from March. That was off a rating of 60 and he has two pounds more tonight but seems in good heart after a second at Windsor last time out though this actually looks a tougher contest with more depth.
9 TEMPLE ROAD – Now a nine-year-old the Street Cry gelding looked out of sorts in the spring and signed off with a last of eight here over course and distance in April. Not seen since he may well need a race or two to get back to peak fitness at his age and is one for the watchlist this evening ahead of future engagements.
10 KRYSTALLITE – Hard to ignore having won her over course and distance off a five-pound higher mark in June in a slightly lesser contest. Six unsuccessful starts since make that look like a one-off but she did win here to take her maiden as well and could run a big race though a place may be beyond her.
11 KYLLUKEY – In decent enough form of late even if a win has proved beyond him, and a decent enough fourth to Searanger over six furlongs here last time when held close home. Well weighted now and back at his best trip and having won off nine pounds higher in the past he cannot be easily dismissed today.