Dave Nevison's top tips for day one of the July Festival

Newmarket’s July Course is going to be seen at its very best for the next three days and hopefully I can get a couple of winners to pay for the champagne. 

The handicapper certainly underrated Tawasol for his handicap debut at Doncaster last month and the Crisfords' runner went on to make a mockery of the mark, winning by four lengths off 82.

The handicapper seems to have also gone leniently with his reassessment, putting him up 11lb for that success. It seems like a lot, but over 6f, I would argue about 4lb per length is how I would weigh up collateral form, so Tawasol could easily have gone up further.

He has made all the running to win his last two starts and, though that will obviously be tougher to do in this mega competitive heritage handicap, the course suits that running style and I am confident the winner will come from one on the pace.

There are plenty of others who might also feel they are Group class horses in a handicap, but Tawasol will do for me at around 8/1.

Great Acclaim has taken a while to warm up this season but ran a really good second at this track last time, going down by just a short head over 7f and looks very ready to win again.

He won four times last season, all handicaps over a mile, and it looks like he will be ideally suited by this step back up to that trip here.

His narrow defeat last time out has earned him a 2lb rise in his mark, but Eve Johnson Houghton’s gelding still looks capable of winning off a mark of 90 and hopefully this race will be the start of a good summer.

Amanda Perrett has her team in good form and has already had a couple of winners in July, and Virtue Patience has a solid chance here.

He has been running well on both  turf and all-weather this season and was a very unlucky third at Newbury last time out where he got badly hampered. He had to be switched a furlong out and might well have won with a clearer run.

He remains off the same mark this evening, but has shown he is well capable of winning and, with Robert Havlin, who has won him, back on board this time, Virtue Patience looks pretty solid.