Kempton Placepot: Wednesday December 12

Kempton is the venue for today's Placepot

With turf racing falling victim to the winter weather, we're off to Kempton for a shot at Wednesday's Placepot.

14:15 - Nothing other than Whipper Snapper has much form to speak of, while taking debutants in a polytrack maiden in December is rarely a sensible option, so we're going to go for it and bank on this first leg. Whipper Snapper has all the credentials required to win this race, let alone place in it, it's merely a case of whether he can hold it together- something he failed to do initially after a promising debut.

14:45 - Banking in consecutive maidens may look foolhardy, but in the case of this heat it's surely excusable. Put simply, you couldn't hope for a better Placepot option than Kalokagathia: he has an abundance of C&D experience, a consistent profile and plenty of strong form. Throw in the fact he's in an older-horse maiden in the depths of the all-weather season and you'd be mad (or at least strongly contrary) not to see this leg as a gift.

15:15 - If the run up to Christmas has taken its toll on your wallet already, you might wish to consider banking again in this leg:Rangi has kept to a fairly useful level in three starts now and a fourth would surely see him place. However, I'm for adding Secret Rebel to the perm, as he's among several in the race who look to remain open to improvement.

15:45 - This is probably the trickiest leg yet, but I promise this is the final maiden we'll have to deal with. It essentially revolves around the three at the head of the betting, though with Quadriga having left Ballydoyle for Robert Eddery since last seen in August, Ningara and Snoqualmie Chief look better options. Both are bred to be suited by longer trips next year, but can keep improving to make the places today.

16:15 - This is a competitive nursery for the time of year, though the field size of nine does help us out somewhat. With three places to aim at, we should get away with including just two, namely Canadian Run and Jodies Jem. Canadian Run looked an improved performer when winning over C&D last week and isn't handicapped out of things raised 6 lb, while Jodies Jem had a fairly consistent profile in four maiden runs, winning over seven furlongs at Wolverhampton last time, and could well pull out more over this longer trip.

16:45 - Another fairly tricky leg to round off, though there are a couple of options to help us through. Both Gabrial's King and Somemothersdohavem can lay claim to sound form over C&D and solid profiles (at least on the all-weather), while the fact that one races prominently and the other is held up should hopefully help us to cover the main pace angles.

Selections:
14:15 - 8
14:45 - 4
15:15 - 9, 10
15:45 - 5, 9
16:15 - 1, 2
16:45 - 10, 13
= 16 lines