The Evening Punt: Tom Collins' free horse racing tips on Thursday

EYECATCHER

Merhoob(5.30 Chelmsford)

All-weather specialist who can be frustrating but has dropped down to 1lb lower than his last winning mark and surely it is only a matter of time before he wins. He ran a nice race on his penultimate outing to finish third behind the talented Tarboosh and looked like going very close last time out when short of room for much of the homestraight. Luke Morris, who has a good record on him (form figures of 261212), is back aboard today and providing the extra furlong isn't stretching his stamina too far, he should go close.

EACH-WAY PLAY

(6.00 Chelmsford)

Another frustrating sort who needs everything to drop right in his races, Philamundo boasts an extremely similar profile to Merhoob and is also down to a mark 1lb below his last success. That was an absolute romp over this course and distance in January and a return to that kind of form will see him land a nice price for punters. However, he has been hitting the frame a lot recently and it may be safer to play each-way in a race where a fast early pace isn't guaranteed.

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