Southwell Tips: Spirit will be needed on Thursday

Five race meetings are pencilled in for Thursday across the UK and Ireland. There's a seven-race card on offer at Southwell which has piqued my interest and I have taken a look to pick out some of the best bets on offer here.

You will find my Southwell Tips below.

17:45 - Spirit of Jura @ 5/1

The day's action begins with this Class 4 handicap over 1m 4f and 14 horses have been declared for this one. One of the runners heading here with leading claims is SPIRIT OF JURA for Charlie Johnston's yard.

The three-year-old filly has won four of her past six starts, with two of them coming at Southwell over 1m 3f. She shouldn't have any issues with the extra furlong on this occasion following her victory over 1m 5f at Hamilton earlier this month.

It's been a while since her last run here but her form this season has been very impressive and a strong performance is expected. Archie Young, who steered her to victory at Hamilton, is booked for this ride.

18:45 - City Captain @ 11/2

CITY CAPTAIN has made excellent progress this season since switching to Harriet Bethell's yard in April, winning three of his four starts to date. All of them came over 6f, the distance he will contest in this Class 4 handicap on Thursday.

Those victories came at Pontefract, Carlisle and most recently Hamilton in June. The other outing for his new yard saw him finish a respectable second at Chelmsford (AW). The three-year-old has shown great promise in recent months and I think that there is more to offer when he makes his first visit to Southwell on Thursday.

A lot is going to be asked of him here as he steps away from Class 6 company, but his current form suggests he should be there or thereabouts.

19:45 - Transparent @ 6/1

TRANSPARENT is declared for this Class 3 handicap over 1m, representing Tom Ward's yard and he will be hoping for more joy at Southwell, having posted a C&D victory here in February, defeating Quickly by 3/4 length.

His latest visit here came shortly after he had been gelded and it was a respectable third of 13 over the same distance in July. He improved on this with a second-place finish at Newmarket (July) on his latest appearance on August 9 and so he returns to this track in good shape.

The three-year-old looks a real threat on the AW circuit and with two strong runs here already, I'm expecting him to be a major player again on Thursday.

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