Pipers Note set to strike again in the Armstrong Memorial
Ripon (UK) Monday Race 1: 15.00
– Ripon ace Pipers Note is impossible to ignore today in the Armstrong Memorial Handicap.
Ruth Carr's utterly likeable sprinter must carry top weight in this 1200m sprint.
But such is his fondness for the North Yorkshire circuit, he simply has to enter the equation in his quest for an eighth course triumph.
Pipers Note returns to Ripon on top of his game, too, having won so well over course and distance in July.
It was textbook stuff from this eight-year-old son of Piccolo, who kept on gamely inside the final 200m to account for Reputation by 0.75 lengths.
Pipers Note runs off a 2kg higher mark, but this race arguably lacks the depth of the sprint he won last month.
That claim is perhaps evidenced by the fact the fourth horse home that day, Flying Pursuit, won the Sky Bet Dash for a second consecutive year at York towards the end of July.
And even in spite of the handicapper becoming actively involved, Carr's inmate won last year off a higher mark and is clearly not done with just yet this summer - especially at Ripon.
Encrypted can get back on track in the big race at Windsor's evening meeting.
Hugo Palmer's gelded son of Showcasing won a huge prize at York in June when he got home by a neck from Savalas in a 1200m Sprint Handicap.
Plenty was then expected of him in a similar sort of race at Newmarket last month, but he never looked happy from the outset and finished last of 20 runners.
Ryan Moore did not give him a hard time, though, and it later transpired he was lame.
Encrypted is clearly back in rude health now and has been cherry-picked an eminently winnable encounter in the Sky Bet Best Odds Guaranteed Handicap.
Carlisle's all-lady-jockey card is a great initiative, but it looks a punting minefield with big fields throughout.
Be that as it may, it could be worth a small interest in Laughton, who will be ridden by Harriett Lees in the 1000m Smarkets Handicap.
Kevin Ryan's five-year-old has not won for over two years, but connections must seriously fancy their chances after he was edged out by Duncan Of Scotland over 1200m at Ayr last month.
This Acclamation gelding requires precise handling as he is far from the most straightforward of individuals, but Lees came as close as anyone to ending Laughton's drought when a nose second at Wolverhampton in April.
Ryan's decision to revert to 1000m, a distance at which he has done all of his winning, also looks a good bit of business. – Press Association