RACING Bank on baraza at Ffos Las

PUNTERS can shake off any lingering post-Grand National torpor by backing Baraza at Ffos Las.

Twenty-four hours after the Aintree brouhaha, it is fair to suggest that the domestic action is humdrum at best.

But those who take the plunge with Baraza in the two-mile handicap chase would most certainly not give two hoots about the paucity of good racing.

Tom George’s inmate must shoulder top weight, but that does not look an insurmountable burden from what he has hitherto achieved over fences.

Baraza always had the look of a chaser, and so it proved on his debut at Leicester on January 12 when he gamely outmastered a reasonable field by upwards of three lengths - even in spite of Paddy Brennan having lost an iron on the run-in.

Next up was a similar sort of novice handicap chase at Doncaster, but he did not have a happy time of things over a longer trip and was beaten out of sight into third place.

That almost certainly had a great deal to do with the fact he was stepped up in distance, so it is hardly a big shock to see him revert to two miles at the Welsh circuit.

Baraza runs at Ffos Las off the same mark and should be very competitive for a yard whose horses continue to go well.

Dubai Celebrity should also be followed in the 32Red.com Handicap Hurdle at Market Rasen.

The six-year-old gelding was the proverbial eyecatcher at Musselburgh last month when he flew home for second place in a handicap hurdle over an extended two miles.

Assuming this longer trip is what he wants, Dubai Celebrity looks a major player in first-time cheekpieces.

Alice Springs is the star on show at Naas and she should take all the beating in the Group Three Gladness Stakes.