Pipers Note set to make a big noise at Ripon

TIPS: Likeable sprinter can defy top weight to succeed in six-furlong dash

Ripon ace PIPERS NOTE is impossible to ignore in the Armstrong Memorial Handicap.

Ruth Carr’s utterly likeable sprinter must carry top weight in the sixfurlong race.

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 the eightyear-old son of Piccolo, who kept on gamely inside the final furlong to account for Reputation by threequarters of a length.

Pipers Note runs off a 5lb 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.

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 five-furlong Smarkets Handicap.

Kevin Ryan’s five-year-old has not won for more than two years, but connections must seriously fancy their chances after he was edged out by Duncan Of Scotland over six furlongs at Ayr last month.

The 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 five furlongs, a distance at which he has done all of his winning, also looks a good bit of business.

SELECTIONS: CARLISLE: 5.40 Laughton, 6.15 Eastern Racer, 6.45 Airglow, 7.15 Prosecution, 7.45 Dasheen, 8.15 Tyrell, 8.45 Snookered.

RIPON: 2.00 Dame Gladys, 2.30 Funkadelic, 3.00 Daawy, 3.30 PIPERS NOTE (NAP), 4.00 Fool For You, 4.30 Chant, 5.00 Al Kherb.

DOUBLE: Pipers Note and Laughton.

Kevin Ryan looks to have made a good decision switching Laughton to five furlongs.