Horse racing tips: Ross Millar's three best bets on Monday

Wow! What a weekend of racing. It is at times like this that I think of the poor folk who are yet to find racing, spending their afternoon traipsing the shops, or catching a film with friends, completely unaware of what they’re missing out on. Poor them, and lucky, lucky us!

Whether it was Bryony Frost and her Frodon in Ireland, with the unison of their head carriage, both driving lower and lower unwilling to be defeated, or Jamie Moore, appropriately, on Halloween weekend, riding like a man posessed at Ascot, this weekend delivered high drama, and we have got all winter ahead of us!

Here are a few that I hope can brighten a potentially damp and blustery Monday afternoon. Best of luck, and please remember to gamble responsibly.

An intriguing contest that might well throw up a few future winners.

Those of interest are Winds Of Fire from the Evan Williams yard, who have started the season well, along with Potters Venture and Mille Sussurri who represent Phillip Hobbs and Harry Fry respectively, and they are two trainers that appear to have their string in much better form this season.

Improvement on what those horses achieved over hurdles is entirely possible as they now head over fences but, at this time of year, I think a few angles in particular can pay dividends in novice chases; four-year olds receiving the generous weight allowance, horses with previous chase experience, and horses with a recent run.

There isn’t a four-year old in this line-up, but the in-form Nigel Twiston-Davies runs Kilpin and he does tick the other boxes.

He’s largely been tried at polar-opposite trips with his only attempt at this intermediate trip coming at Stratford when beaten a length where he was conceding 10lb to the now 105-rated Coby Nine.

I think a repeat performance of that effort, off his rating of 112, will be good enough to win this.

The Bomber Liston looked a very bright prospect when easily winning a maiden hurdle at Uttoxeter in October, and will surely be all the rage for this on his handicap debut.

However, the form of that maiden win has not yet been franked, and Grand Lord, who finished second behind him at Uttoxeter, had already run in a handicap off a mark of 107 and was beaten 15 lengths, plus also made his second handicap appearance at Wetherby on Friday and was again beaten in the region of 15 lengths.

The only other horse to reappear since Uttoxeter is Smoking Pigeon, who was 12 lengths away in fifth, and he ran in a novice hurdle at Wincanton and finished a well beaten fourth of four.

These small cracks in the validity of the form have encouraged me to look elsewhere.

Ben Pauling had a difficult season last year but has started this season in fine form and is operating at a 19 per cent strike-rate.

He is represented by Raf Tavel who arrived from France last season with a mark of 141, largely due to a smart piece of form from Auteuil when only seven lengths behind the highly-regarded James Du Berlais (rated 156).

After two placed efforts over two miles, he has dropped to a mark of 130 and gets the assistance of Daryl Jacob who is fresh from his big-race double at Wetherby on Saturday.

With the rain hopefully easing the ground to the soft side of good, and with this step up in trip likely to suit, he is my selection at a fair each-way price.

Peltwell arrives here having won her past five starts but is now 29lb higher in the handicap since the first of those victories, and the recent 5lb rise might just put an end to that sequence on Monday.

Triple Nickle has also been in good form this year, with two wins on the flat and a victory over hurdles at Wincanton.

The form of the Wincanton race would suggest that a rating of 107 is still workable as three of the rivals she beat there are now rated 112, 106 and 114.

Jack Wildman looks an interesting booking as he takes a further 7lb off courtesy of his claim, and the Bernard Llewellyn yard are amongst the shrewdest when it comes to utilising the claims of conditional jockeys.