Southwell Tips: Mums the word at last?

Evening racing on Tuesday comes from Southwell, with the Nottinghamshire venue putting on an eight-race card under the floodlights.

They get underway at 17:00 and race on through to 20:30 - and we've selected a trio of runners worth following on the night.

They include Mumayaz in the opener, as Tony Carroll's charge bids once more to end a sequence of near misses.

17:00 - Mumayaz @ 10/3

An apprentice handicap over six-furlongs opens the card at Southwell on Tuesday evening and this might finally be the moment for Mumayaz to collect a victory that is long overdue.

His winless sequence has now been extended to 21 following a short-head defeat at Wolverhampton late last month, with his last success coming at Dundalk in October of 2021.

Remarkably, seven of his eight runs for this trainer have yielded silver medals. They have come over 6f or 7f at the likes of Lingfield and Wolverhampton since returning to the all-weather in the autumn and, last time, he really couldn't have done much more.

William Carson brought him wide to challenge and they looked menacing up the home straight, looming to lead late on, only for Pessoa to be produced on the running rail with an unlikely late surge to grab the verdict on the line.

Mumayaz is rated 1lb higher now but will have Jack Doughty claiming 5lb in the saddle. This reduced trip around Southwell should be ideal for him and, while last-time-out C&D winner El Hibri must be feared, this gelding is surely going to get his rewards soon.

17:30 - Sagauteur @ 9/2

Twice-raced Assail landed a novice victory at Wolverhampton in November for David Simcock and has scope for more improvement now upped in trip on his handicap bow but an opening mark of 75 poses a question against these battle-hardened rivals.

Sagauteur is one that falls into that category. He's not been with Rebecca Menzies that long but gained his first win for the yard at Newcastle in December. That was his first all-weather start at this 1m4f trip and he really powered home, putting distance between himself and the chasing pack.

It was a second AW score in nine attempts, with three more placed efforts, and from this 4lb higher mark with scope for better at the trip, the experienced eight-year-old may well have too much for the lightly-raced four-year-old Assail, who is forecast to head the betting.

19:00 - Excel Power @ 7/1

The feature race at Southwell is a Class 2 handicap over seven-furlongs and it features in-form contenders in Intervention, Doctor Khan Junior and Follow Your Heart.

Intervention saw his winning run ended at Wolverhampton a week ago and is up in grade now, while Doctor Khan Junior is 9lb higher after his own November success at Dunstall Park. Follow Your Heart, meanwhile, was behind Intervention on Boxing Day and is only a couple of pounds better off now.

Archie Watson and Hollie Doyle team up with Excel Power and a sixth all-weather success could be imminent for the son of Slade Power. He's been running consistently since returning to the synthetics, with good efforts at Chelmsford and Kempton in four starts, including a runner-up effort in this grade at the Essex circuit over a mile last month.

This doesn't appear quite as strong on paper and he can begin 2024 with a bang after going winless in seven starts in the last calendar year.