There’s a very nice card to look forward to at Pontefract Racecourse on Monday with Listed action on the agenda and it is always a place where soft ground horses thrive. Pontefract can be soft on a good day usually and it’s always wise to go with horses who have form in the mud and who stay further as it is a stiff finish too. Let’s take a look at the three who we think could go well on Monday.
Karl Burke’s Castle Stuart absolutely bolted up on heavy ground when sent off favourite for a Hamilton maiden over the extended mile in August so underfoot conditions will pose no problems to this boy. He had two runs on a fast surface prior to that with no joy, so the mud flying seemed to really bring the best out in him. He has the ability to go very close in the Listed feature off the back of that.
Thursday’s Child is a C&D winner. She won his first two career starts including a novice on heavy ground around here, and she went close when second at Carlisle on her penultimate start on soft ground off a mark of 80 in August over 6f. Running from the same mark here with a good inside draw in two, she rates as a big player.
Wise Eagle handles the mud perfectly well and he won this very race two years ago so he ticks a lot of boxes. He was way out of his depth when last in the Group 2 Doncaster Cup when last seen but this is much easier.
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