Dave Nevison's best bets for Thursday: Rose is ready to blossom

Being by Speightstown, this horse ss bred to be suited by Southwell and finished a good second on his first start at the track in August.

He showed that he doesn’t have to lead when producing arguably a career best after a slow start out when second behind Zulu Zander last time out.

Hopefully that start will not be repeated here as he will have the kickback to contend with, but if he breaks well, he should be good enough to score.

A strong pace looks highly likely in the modest 7f handicap and that tempts me in to having a bet on this in-form runner who finished second behind an improver last time.

I am hoping the pace separates the runners and Phoenix Star is able to utilise his inside draw from off the pace.

He is dropped down in grade since here and has managed to win in 0-70 company at Kempton recently. Stuart Williams has had four winners from his past ten runners, which is another positive.

Hopefully Stuart Williams can have a good evening as, for similar reasons, I fancy Restless Rose to win this.

She has a tendency to find trouble in running and, as a result, does not win as often as expected, but she is very consistent and has found a small-field race that looks to have plenty of pace.

Hopefully she gets a clear run this time. She is now rated below 80 for the first time since she last won a race which will also help her chances.