Lucky 15 Tips: In-form Florita to follow up at Catterick

Britain offers up three meetings on Monday, but as per usual on the first day of the week, there's no racing from Ireland.

Our expert has taken a close look at Catterick's six-race card for his Lucky 15 tips.

14:00 Catterick - Solid Performer @ 10/3

Donald McCain isn't quite the dominant force on the northern racing scene that he used to be, but he's still a trainer to watch and often has some useful novice hurdles. SOLID PERFORMER has shown some promise so far and his pedigree suggests this trip will suit.

He won a point-to-point over three miles at Woodford before joining this yard and his half-sister won the 3m5f Porterstown Chase. 

Tackling this maiden hurdle over an extended 3m1f should be a manageable task on that evidence and he's probably a chaser in the making. 

McCain's eight-year-old wasn't beaten far when third in a Kelso maiden on his first start under rules and he bumped into an impressive winner when third at Ayr after that. This is a weak maiden and it presents an excellent opportunity to get off the mark.

14:30 Catterick - Florita @ 13/8

Fences have facilitated some improvement from Sam England's FLORITA and she has a 67 per cent strike-rate in this sphere, winning two of her three chase starts.

The first of those came over 2m3f at Market Rasen a couple of months ago.

Her rivals had no answer to her finishing kick and she saw the race out well to score by a comfortable margin. It was a similar story at the same track on February 1, but the winning margin was even wider this time, as the mare pulled six-and-a-half lengths clear.

Eight days is a relatively short turnaround but now could be a good time, as she only carries a 7lb penalty and the handicapper won't respond kindly to her latest success.

15:30 Catterick - One Soc @ 11/2

Joel Parkinson & Sue Smith's ONESOC clearly isn't the easiest to train but he was in good form last winter, upon his return from a lengthy absence. He was a fair fourth here over a shorter trip, on his first start for 657 days, back in January 2025.

The gelded son of Valirann then improved to win over course and distance on his next start, where he beat Ideallko by more than seven lengths without breaking a sweat.

A good second at Market Rasen after that, another big run could be on the cards on his return.

16:00 Catterick - Vanilla Dancer @ 11/10

This could be a straight shootout between VANILLA DANCER and Voodoo Angel, who both finished second to progressive and in-form rivals last time out. The former's form could be slightly better and that's why Chris Grant's seven-year-old gets the nod.

It's a slight concern that she remains winless in 17 hurdle starts, but she's a bumper winner and could hardly have been much closer to winning at Doncaster when last seen. 

Neil Mulholland's Jamaicaine completed her hat-trick that day, but Vanilla Dancer was just a neck behind in second. A similar performance may be enough on this occasion, provided the 2lb higher mark isn't an issue.

If all four selections obliged at the quoted prices, a 50p win Lucky 15 would return around £224 for a £7.50 total stake.

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