Windsor Placepot: Monday October 15

Today's Placepot comes from Windsor

After a weekend double salvo from his colleagues, Keith Melrose kicks off this week's Placepot permutations with a trip to Windsor.

14:00 - A seven-runner maiden to start with, but no need to fear: Secondo made his way into the Timeform Notebook after a highly-encouraging debut display at Newbury and, although there are a couple with comparable form, none of Secondo's rivals have the same promise and he looks to afford us a cheap route through the opening leg.

14:30 - Nine runners makes this nursery a lot more appetising a proposition than it might have been, and we can be pretty confident of getting through with a couple of selections. First there's Cheektocheek, who was rather undone by a muddling pace on his nursery debut last time and can expect to find this more up his street; his debut form isn't too shabby, either. A solid backup comes in the form of Rioja Day. He's essentially going the right way, a slight hiccup at Bath last time easily attributed to a lack of stamina over a trip of 10 furlongs. He's proven over a mile and shouldn't have an issue even with this test at the trip.

15:05 - This older-horse maiden comes down to a choice between Bishops Castle and Surreal, with the former getting the nod by virtue of him already having a sound effort to his name on softer ground. The fact he's currently a warm order as favourite is somewhat regrettable, but his inclusion should at least save some lines.

15:35 - A big-field sprint handicap is seldom a breeze and this is no different, but a relative lack of depth means it could be a lot worse. As it is, the selection of Jocasta Dawn and Cardinal should be enough to see us through. The former is something of a self-evident selection, unexposed yet with more than enough form on softer ground to think it won't pose any problems. Cardinal is less obvious, certainly if form figures are your guide, but he's had excuses on his last three starts, suggesting on his return from a break last time that he's bang in form again.

16:10 - A number of these arrive in good form, and a field of 15 hardly helps matters, either. Consistency is what we're after as Placepot hunters, and on that score both Clear Spring and Stonecrabstomorrow fare well. The chances are that the handicapper will catch up with Clear Spring sooner rather than later- he's won five of his last seven going up more than 30 lbs in the weights- but there's no reason to think he can't at least give his running here, which would have him thereabouts. Stonecrabstomorrow has been fairly reliable over the last few months, rewarded with a couple of wins, and his success at Goodwood last time shows that conditions here will holds no fears for him.

16:40 - With eight runners, we can afford to take a cut at this closing handicap (especially with place-laying as an option) with Lutine Charlie. He's been reliable of late, and will run today off a mark 3 lb lower than when he finished fifth over C&D last time, his inflated mark (3 lb out of the weights) and relatively poor position probably costing him a place that day. Likely favourite Cyril The Squirrel is respected, but not so consistent, so banking on Lutine Charlie could be the prudent route.

Selections:
14:00 - 5
14:30 - 1, 4
15:05 - 2
15:35 - 4, 12
16:10 - 5, 14
16:40 - 5
= 8 lines

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