SILVER RIME can defy his advancing years by producing a winning display at Ayr on Monday.
Linda Perratt’s grey is now a 10-year-old, but his age is highly unlikely to be a factor in the Racing UK Day Pass Handicap. The gelded son of Verglas has not claimed victory since last August, but the green shoots of recovery were spotted by some at Musselburgh late last month.
Silver Rime finished third at big odds in a seven-furlong handicap, beaten just under four lengths, but that perhaps does not tell the full story. Any notion of victory went west at the start as Perratt’s representative badly missed the break, after which he did particularly well to claw back much of the deficit.
Assuming Graham Lee can keep him on the straight and narrow coming out of the stalls, he must have every chance back on a racecourse at which he has already won four times.
The bang-in-form Harwoods Volante is a big danger, but it should also be noted that Silver Rime remains 8lb lower in the weights than when last successful in the summer of 2014.
A return to six furlongs might do well for Cadeaux Pearl in division one of the Racing UK Handicap. Scott Dixon’s seven-year-old looked a shade flat-footed in a five-furlong handicap at Beverley last month when he finished fourth behind Prigsnov Dancer.
The gelded son of Acclamation travelled well for a long way, though, and is now back on a mark off which he won at Southwell in January. His penultimate outing, when a close third in a six-furlong handicap at Nottingham on June 3, is also an important piece of form when assessing his validity for top spot at the Scottish circuit.
There would be few more deserving winners on Ripon’s evening card than Newholm, who runs in the Bondgate Handicap. David Brown’s three-year-old is, almost inexplicably, still a maiden after seven tries, but his form is not really open to scrutiny.
He has finished second four times and third twice, so it is safe to assume he will again run honourably off the same mark of 63. This seven-furlong heat also looks the weakest race he has encountered for quite some time.
Elusivity has enough quality to cause a bit of a stir in the Dora Franklin 100th Birthday Handicap at Windsor.
IRISH NEWS YANKEE
Nap: Silver Rime (3.35pm, Ayr)
Double: Cadeaux Pearl (2.35pm, Ayr)
Treble: Newholm (7.05pm, Ripon)
Yankee: Elusivity (7.25pm, Windsor)
