Monday Racing Tips: Platinum to prove her value at Lingfield

There are four scheduled meetings taking place across Britain and Ireland across the afternoon and into the evening on Monday.

Lingfield kicks us off and the afternoon action continues from Punchestown and Hereford before Wolverhampton’s evening meeting concludes the day.

One runner for Andrew Balding is amongst our stronger fancies for the day and that horse can get back on track now she goes back over a mile.

13.20 Lingfield - Platinum Jubilee @ 8/1

Yet to get off the mark, there have been some positive recent signs from Andrew Balding’s PLATINUM JUBILEE and victory could be on the cards here.

This daughter of Oasis Dream was a four-length sixth in a novice event at Newcastle over a mile in November. Not a lot went right that day, as she ducked right at the start and was far too keen.

It was a fine effort on handicap debut at Kempton next time out (1m, standard to slow) and she came very close to getting off the mark. It’s worth noting that she was a very unlucky loser that day, as she was hampered early on and was short of room at the halfway stage.

She was below-par when dropped back down to 7f last time out and that run can perhaps be put down to the unsuitability of the trip. The handicapper has responded by dropping her 1lb and she’s now just 1lb higher than when finishing second at Kempton.

Andrew Balding’s charge should be capable of getting off the mark sooner rather than later and she’s not expected to be far away at the business end of the race here.

13.50 Lingfield - A Pint Of Bear @ 17/2

The tale of Scott Dixon’s A PINT OF BEAR is a heartwarming one and the six-year-old returned to winning ways at Wolverhampton last time out (7f, standard).

It was a dominant performance and the result never looked in doubt. The son of Kodi Bear made all the running, pulled well clear three furlongs out and went on to score by a comfortable margin of a length-and-three-quarters.

His trainer reported that the jockey struggled to pull him up after the race, which indicates that there’s plenty more left in the tank.

The handicapper has responded with a 4lb rise, which seems pretty fair, and that shouldn’t prevent the gelding from running a big race once again. This horse has won off a mark of 75 in the past which certainly bodes well here.

That win would have been a huge confidence boost so now could be a good time to catch him and he should be capable of striking again.

14.25 Punchestown - Clear The Clouds @ 15/2

This is a competitive novice handicap hurdle, despite perhaps not being the deepest of races. 11-race maiden CLEAR THE CLOUDS should have every chance of getting off the mark for Gavin Cromwell.

The six-year-old son of Vendangeur was a solid third in a better race at Ballinrobe when last seen, despite not jumping with fluency at times and perhaps finding the 2m1f trip a little on the sharp side.

He goes back up to an extended 2m4f for this race and his best effort to date came over a similar trip here back in November 2022.

The handicapper has been a little harsh by putting him up 1lb for that latest effort, but he should be in the mix regardless.

Check out the rest of our Horse Racing Tips here.