Plumpton Placepot: Monday December 3

Plumpton is the venue for today's Placepot

Keith Melrose tries his hand at the Placepot on Monday's only jumps fixture from Plumpton.

12:40 - This is quite a competitive novice for the track, and in testing conditions it's probably no time to try anything cute. Therefore, the recommendation is to bank on favourite Pendra. There seem to be plenty of young horses clamouring for the honour of being Charlie Longsdon's first big-time performer, Pendra being one if the impression he's left in winning his first two starts (latter over C&D) is anything to go by.

13:10 - This is a tough leg, with only one of the seven runners (the seemingly regressive Escort'Men) having experience over fences and several boasting at least a fairly useful level over timber. Nonetheless, we can oppose current favourite Pateese, who is minus the headgear that helped him improve last backend. Our principal weapon is Hawkes Point, your typical chasing type from the Nicholls yard who managed to attain a useful level of form over hurdles on similar ground last season. Off The Ground is also typical of one from his yard, having the size that so many Emma Lavelle charges are noted for, and he was progressive in handicaps last season before flopping in a good race on his final start. Fresh may be the time to catch him.

13:40 - A mares' handicap hurdle from which we'll need to select a couple in order to feel comfortable about our progress. First in is Madame Jasmine, who is three from three over this C&D (including a win last time out) and will have no trouble with conditions. Madam Noso is a slightly more left-field suggestion as she's returning from a break and has been given a stiffish mark on the bare form of what she's achieved, but she's also unexposed and could well come into her own racing over three miles plus for the first time.

14:10 - With Delgany Gunner's inevitable defection, we're left with four. It's difficult to rule any out, so take them all.

14:40 - There's quite a lot of deadwood in this lowly handicap, but there are also a handful of truly interesting sorts: both Mount Vesuvius and Tom Sang look set to take off now switched to handicaps, while Thundering Home escapes a penalty for his recent win. The only question is of how we perm the three. I'd suggest going with Mount Vesuvius and Tom Sang, purely because Thundering Home looks more of an all-or-nothing type than either of that pair.

15:10 - The last leg's always a good time for a banker and that's the line we're going to take here. It boils down to either Dushy Valley, who's been winning basement-level races over C&D on his last couple of starts, and the generally forward-going Changing Lanes. The advice is to bank on Changing Lanes, with your fingers at the ready to put in a place lay, especially if he proves uneasy in the betting.

Selections:
12:40 - 2
13:10 - 3, 5
13:40 - 3, 5
14:10 - 1, 2, 4, 5
14:40 - 1, 3
15:10 - 1
= 32 lines