Dave Nevison's best bets: two top tips for Tuesday

Bownder won a similar contest over this course and distance in June and has performed creditably since.

Despite having run many times, Jonathan Portman’s gelding does seem to be improving gradually and ran possibly his best ever race last time out. 

He has been raised 2lb since, and is back to a mark that he has been beaten off before, but he acts on soft and might well be in good enough form to defy this mark. 

Portman is generally having a very god season, so the stable form is strong, which is another positive. 

Mahra’s Love was sent off 4-1 for a red-hot, 0-95 handicap at Goodwood last time out and ran well enough, despite the luck in running necessary to win a competitive race at that track deserting her. 

Her head carriage might have been a little suspect there, too, but I am happy to put that down to the intricacies of Goodwood, for now, as there was no evidence of that in two previous wins on conventional flat tracks, including on the all-weather at Kempton. 

Although this is a strong 0-80 handicap for the track, hopefully Mahra’s Love can pick up the winning thread dropping back in class.