Remember to Playtothewhistle at Southwell
Former champion jockey Silvestre de Sousa SILVESTRE DE SOUSA can cement his new working relationship with Mick Appleby by helping Playtothewhistle get back to winning ways at Southwell.
The former champion jockey has been riding all over the globe in the winter, but it was announced last week that when he can he will ride for Appleby.
With Appleby moving south his former stalwart Andrew Mullen is now too far away to be able to do the job to the best of his ability and it is a sign of the trainer’s ambition that he has approached De Sousa.
Appleby has ruled the roost at Southwell for a few years now and while the claims for Playtothewhistle are not that obvious, the handicapper has given him a bit of a chance at last.
The former Bryan Smart inmate finished second on his last three runs for his former trainer, with one of those coming at Southwell off a mark of 70.
He has obviously had a few issues as he has been lightly raced since then, but in three runs for Appleby off that same mark he has not been disgraced.
Now able to run off 4lb lower and with De Sousa taking over, better can be expected in the sunbets.co. uk Handicap
Katie Gale looks another Appleby runner with big claims in the Betway Stayers Handicap.
She may have top weight but ran well enough last month when third behind Fern Owl over two miles.
The slight drop in trip might be in her favour but, more importantly, so is the drop in class.
Michael Scudamore’s string have hit form with a vengeance recently and his Two Smokin Barrels can strike at Newcastle.
The eight-year-old notched up a nice sequence of victories in December and January, winning three times on the bounce and dealing with a total 12lb hike in the weights admirably along the way.
However, raised a further 7lb at Catterick last month, Two Smokin Barrels eventually came unstuck as she could finish only fourth behind Actinpieces at Catterick.
Beaten over 18 lengths, Two Smokin Barrels really did not appear to be firing on all cylinders that day, with a bad early blunder possibly the catalyst for what was a disappointing effort.