BOUVARDIA 2:10 Salisbury Lay at 2.2 or less

Bouvardia looks the obvious form choice on the strength of her debut second at Newmarket, especially as the winner has gone on to score in a Listed race at Salisbury. However, the form doesn't look so good when you consider that the next three horses home have all been beaten favourites in maiden company since - two at very short prices. With rain about and the ground already on the soft side of good the jockeys are likely to favour the stand side and that would leave Bouvardia poorly placed in stall 12, close to the far side rail. With half a dozen other well bred, potential improvers in the field, I'm happy to take on this favourite.

REGAL FLUSH 5:20 Salisbury Back at 2.0 or more

Since winning a 14F handicap off a mark of 101 exactly a year ago, Regal Flush has run only in Group and Listed races and he looks well placed here to take advantage of a drop in class. His third over this trip at York in May looks much better than anything his rivals have to offer and they would have done no better than him behind Yeats at Ascot and Goodwod. The price is short, but when your main rivals are serial losers such as Balkan Knight (surely needs 2M these days) and Munsef (definitely needs a psychiatrist), it's clear that the race isn't going to take much winning. He handled soft ground as a 2-y-old, so conditions shouldn't be a problem.