Sunday's Selection

Examiner produced a bitterly disappointing run earlier on today and, while he looked to be travelling well a couple of furlongs out, he emptied quickly and ended up finishing nearer last than first. Hopefully the handicapper drops him a couple of pounds and he should be a lot more competitive next time on slightly better ground.

Tomorrow the conditions will be testing again at Doncaster so if you are considering having a bet on anything at the meeting an ability to handle easy ground is essential. One horse that will have no issues with the underfoot conditions is Stake Acclaim, an 85 rated 4yo son of Acclamation who is trained by shrewd handler Dean Ivory. This fella has won 2 of his 10 starts and the first of those was a maiden win on soft ground over 6f here.

He subsequently went on to win a class 4 handicap at Newmarket over 5f (good) off a mark of 80 and he followed that with an arguably even better run at the same track on good to soft over 6f off his new mark of 85. He was beaten by just half a length that day in second and showed that he is capable of running a big race off his current mark.

He was put away for the winter after that excellent effort and he reappeared at the turn of the year with a couple of runs on the all weather at Chelmsford off his revised mark of 87. He was beaten just over 3L in both of those runs but his last effort at Kempton was pretty disappointing back in February. However, those three runs mean he will not be short of fitness for tomorrow's race and with all the rain that has fallen he will relish the return to soft turf. He is drawn in the middle so his pilot Robert Winston will have options at the start, and at odds of 16/1 he is a confident each way selection for what looks a wide open handicap.

STEVOS' SELECTION: 3.30 DONCASTER STAKE ACCLAIM E/W 16/1