It's high time to take a shine to Tommy Taylor

Two-year-old races don't usually rock my boat. They are mainly full of unexposed sorts who can improve massively from one contest to the next and, as a betting medium, you're guessing half the time. However, a juvenile occasionally comes along who makes me think 'Oooh, I like that'. The last time was at Haydock five weeks ago.

Clueless and soon scrubbed along on heavy ground on his debut that day, Tommy Taylor finally got the message, making up plenty of late ground and nearly catching the experienced Londinium, who reopposes back at the same course in the Countrywide Freight Nursery (7.20).
2pts win

Next time Tommy Taylor travelled like a good 'un on fast ground at York and probably hit the front too soon as a result. Even so, he found plenty to hold off a highly regarded newcomer and there was daylight back to the third.

There was little to go on form-wise in that contest, but the son of Mizzen Mast moved through it like a quality horse and gave the impression he would have been a comfortable winner if he hadn't been forced to go on after halfway. An entry in the Group 2 Champagne Stakes at Doncaster next month suggests he is considered a fair bit better than an initial mark of 83 and, granted cover, he should take some beating.

At Wolverhampton, Encore Moi is likely to be popular in the FCL Global Forwarding Making Logistics Personal Handicap (5.20) after finishing a neck second to 7-4 favourite Bonhomie on her handicap debut over course and distance 11 days ago. However, Marco Botti's filly couldn't have had a race run more to suit, having sat in the slipstream of the winner from the start, and she is likely to have more on her plate here drawn in the outside stall of 13.

Just under two lengths behind her in fourth that day was King Oswald, and while he also benefited from racing prominently in a contest run at a crawl, unlike Encore Moi he saw plenty of daylight racing three wide.
1pt win

The ex-Godolphin gelding had shown his first signs of ability at this track on his previous start, when he forced a decent pace before finishing fifth, and if the well-bred son of Street Cry is beginning to come to himself, a mark of 58 could prove on the generous side. A draw in stall four gives him options.

Price permitting, I'm going to have a small each-way interest on Shining Romeo in the fclgf.com Handicap (4.20).
1pt each-way

Backing any runner beaten 27 lengths on their last start is a risky bet, and he could have been better drawn here. That said, the Royal Applause gelding has been given a short break since that Yarmouth flop, when he was presumably unsuited by the fitting of two types of headgear.

He wouldn't be out of this if returning to his early season form, when he won off the same mark at Leicester and ran a cracker to finish second in a better race than this over 1m4f here, having made a sweeping move around the field down the back straight.

At Musselburgh it is difficult to see the Fisher Group Handicap (4.30) being run at anything other than a steady pace and for that reason it might be worth siding with Annigoni, the forecast outsider of the field.
1pt win

Ruth Carr's gelding has yet to convince he really wants as far as this 1m4f trip - his breeding suggests as much - and I wouldn't be going anywhere near him if this looked like being strongly run. However, with his five rivals all seemingly well suited by being held up, the race promises to be a tactical affair in which stamina might not come under the spotlight. It also helps that this track on fast ground is one of the sharpest in Britain.

Annigoni is by no means a natural front-runner, but he is a keen sort who was never far away when fourth over course and distance two starts ago - a performance that would put him in the mix if repeated here. He raced much too freely back at this track last time when blinkers replaced cheekpieces.

With no obvious rival for the lead it would be no surprise to see Annagoni take it on from the start and while he will have to settle to give himself any chance, the return of cheekpieces should help. He has also dropped 10lb in the weights since joining this in-form, shrewd yard, which excels at getting other stables' cast-offs well handicapped.

My week