Free horse racing tips for Monday: Rebel has a cause

It’s a rare blank day on Racing TV on Monday with the meeting at Pontefract, scheduled to include a £40,000 Listed contest, being lost to waterlogging.

The upside to the recent spell of wet weather is that Jump tracks are not having to wrestle with fast ground.

Cheltenham stage their first fixture of the season on Friday, with the going soft, good to soft in places. That has encouraged no fewer than 187 entries!

There are less runners to juggle at Plumpton on Monday but there’s still some competitive action. Here are three selections.

Zacony Rebel is dismissed as the outsider of the field by the bookmakers and looks worth risking at chunky odds.

The Toby Lawes-trained eight-year-old made an encouraging start to his chasing career last autumn but has disappointed on his past three starts.

I like the angle that he’s fresh – he’s won first time out in each of the past two seasons – and that he’s slipped back to the mark that he won easily off at Fontwell a year ago. He followed that with a good third to handicap snip Notlongtillmay at Wetherby and is now 5lb lower. Ground and trip both suit.

Sacre Coeur rates the main threat after bossing the opposition at Fontwell last time. Abuffalosoldier is also interesting, making his chasing bow, but he’s looked a stayer and may find this test on the sharp side.

The sharp nature of Plumpton promises to suit Arqoob, a useful performer at up to ten furlongs on the Flat – rated 94 at his best - who should be up to winning races in this sphere off a mark of only 114.

His jumping improved with experience as a novice last season and he signed off with a solid third in a hot £50,000 handicap on soft ground at Sandown in late April, when Tapley, who re-opposes, was back in sixth. This is an easier assignment and the better ground/sharper test should also play more to his strengths.

Fitness should not be an issue after an outing in the Cambridgeshire last time, when beaten an aggregate of about six lengths.

Uggy Uggy Uggy was an emphatic winner at Warwick last time and is feared, despite a 10lb rise in the ratings, while it will be interesting to see how Toothless travels in the market after a wind op.

A 7lb penalty may not be enough to stop the lightly raced Ideallko following up his decisive victory at Ffos Las last week, which came after an eye-catching effort at Stratford.

He’s actually only 5lb higher in the ratings, having won that Ffos Las race from out of the handicap. The runner-up in that race, Lusitanien, arrived in good form and gives the form some substance.

Gambie Tiep is the obvious threat, having chalked up his fourth win of the campaign at Bangor last time. The niggle is that he’s gone up an aggregate of 19lb for his wins and, in addition, the 5lb claimer who has guided him to his recent victories finds himself surplus to requirements.

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