Newton Abbot Placepot: Monday October 1

Nigel Twiston-Davies is typically hitting form in the autumn.
An ordinary start to the week whichever meeting we choose, but Keith Melrose sees most opportunity for a decent Placepot return at Newton Abbot...
14:00 - Not an ideal race for Placepot purposes, Kartanian being the only runner with form over hurdles and even he bombed out last time. We'll be needing the lines for later on, so banking on The New One would probably be our best option. He was three from four (sixth in Champion Bumper at Cheltenham the other occasion) in bumpers last season and makes his hurdling debut at around the time his yard usually start rattling in the winners. He'll surely be competing at a higher level in time, but hopefully he'll be ready to do himself justice today.
14:30 - A competitive race, even with such a small field. Too small in fact, four runners to be precise, and with me being unable to rule any of them out (though Traditional Bob is in only by the skin of his teeth), I'm going to have to suggest putting them all in.
15:00 - Plenty of young, improving sorts in this handicap hurdle, a sure sign that the jumps season is building up. More immediately we need to find one to place, and it'd be a big surprise if Gud Day were to miss the places such has been his form of late. He's been a reformed character in terms of his jumping this summer it's been showing in his form, progressive and, perhaps more importantly for our purposes, consistent all the while. We're going to bank on him, mindful of leg four.
15:30 - Another four-runner affair, but quite frankly it'd be too expensive to put them all in again and, as luck would have it, Knapp Bridge Boy is a weak candidate on recent form and a dodgy jumper to boot. Leave him out and go with Darceys Dancer, Mibleu and Moulin de La Croix.
16:00 - Illysantachristina let me down in this column recently, but she actually ran a respectable race at Plumpton and, with this slightly shorter trip likely to be more suitable, I'm going to keep the faith, especially considering she won't be carrying nearly as many lines as the other recommendation, Desolait. He was bang in form when last seen and his yard is now in fine fettle overall. If fit, Desolait would be tough to beat at all, let along get out of the three.
16:30 - In contrast to the promise of the third race, this handicap chase is a reminder that we're not quite out of the summer jumping woods yet, certainly a fitting race for the horse called Absolute Shambles. We're not picking him, though, in fact we're banking on Chandlers Cross, the only one of these to boast both ability and anything like a reasonable temperament; he's been in fair form of late, too.
Selections:
14:00 - 6
14:30 - 1, 2, 3, 4
15:00 - 2
15:30 - 1, 2, 3
16:00 - 3, 7
16:30 - 2
= 24 lines