Monday Racing Tips: Powerful Response can be the answer at Ayr

Flat racing holds sway across the UK and Ireland on Monday with five meetings taking place across the afternoon and into the evening.

First off is Southwell, which is swiftly followed by Ayr and the evening action comes from Windsor, Naas and Wolverhampton.

Amongst our Monday fancies is one for trainer Geoffrey Harker who was a winner last time out and could have more improvement in the tank as a four-year-old.

15:15 Ayr - Powerful Response @ 4/1

Ayr’s feature race of the day, a Handicap over 1m2f, has attracted no fewer than 14 runners, which is the maximum field size. That means there’s plenty to consider and it should be a very competitive affair.

Geoffrey Harker’s POWERFUL RESPONSE showed a good attitude to win last time out and could well be the answer off just a 1lb higher mark.

He was plenty keen enough in the early stages of the race which made his strong finishing effort all the more impressive. The son of Starspangledbanner got up in the dying strides and may well get further in the future if settling better.

This 1m2f trip seems fine for now but he’d probably want some more cut in the ground in an ideal world. Good to soft should be manageable however, and it won’t be the underfoot conditions that prevent him from following up.

17:45 Southwell - Young Endless @ 4/1

Laura Morgan’s YOUNG ENDLESS perhaps has a bit of a point to prove over trips in excess of two miles but the five-year-old is certainly worth giving another chance on the evidence of his impressive victory last time out.

He went clear in the final furlong to win by a very comfortable margin and there were no signs that he was running out of gas. A 6lb rise is fair enough on that evidence and Laura Morgan can perhaps squeeze out a little more improvement from the gelding.

Lightly raced for his age, he could still be somewhat unexposed and he has an excellent course record, which will stand him in good stead.

19:09 Windsor - Pique @ 7/4

Handicap debutante PIQUE could be one to watch at Windsor on Monday as a significant amount of improvement could be on the cards. Going up to an extended 1m3f here, her pedigree fully suggests the extra distance will suit.

The daughter of Nathaniel has had only three starts to date and the best of those efforts came at Lingfield over a mile in October. She certainly shaped as if she would improve with another winter on her back and should progress nicely this year.

An opening mark of 70 doesn’t appear to be outrageous and the conditions of this race stipulate that she just about squeezes into this 0-68. With that in mind, she surely won’t be racing at this level for long and this is a good opportunity to get off the mark.

It was a reasonable enough effort on her seasonal reappearance at Wolverhampton last time out. Finishing fifth, she got a little outpaced and should improve for the run. It’ll certainly be disappointing if she’s not bang in the mix here.

Find more Horse Racing Tips here at Betfred Insights