Monday tips: Andy Stephens marks your card after 12-1 weekend winner

The opening race at Stratford could well develop into a duel between Betty’s Tiara and Special Venture with the former’s superior jumping perhaps giving her the edge. 

Betty’s Tiara has admittedly found wins difficult to come by since scoring on her debut in a bumper here a couple of years ago, chalking up six second places before finally getting off the mark over hurdles at Uttoxeter last month. 

She was not winning out of turn and her efficient jumping was a feature, with RaceiQ awarding her a Jump Index score of 7.6 out of 10. 

Serious Chat’s form figures reflect his reliability but mask the fact that he has his own way of getting from A to B. His overall Jump Index score is a modest 5.8, with four of his past six scores on the database being 5.4 or less. 

There are four sprint handicaps at Pontefract on Monday with this 6f contest perhaps the most competitive of the bunch. 

Irish Nectar clicked around this time last year, when winning over 6f on soft ground at Doncaster, and makes most appeal. 

He’s able to race off a 3lb lower mark on Monday with conditions back in his favour, plus he caught the eye when a keeping-on sixth in the 25-runner Bronze Cup at Ayr last time. 

That effort needs marking up as he had only one rival behind him at halfway and was doing his best work at the finish, with only the runner-up being quicker than him through the final furlong. The stiff finish here should play to his strengths.

JP McManus has two runners in this seven-runner handicap chase with Trapista carrying his first colours. She has slipped to a favourable rating  – 12lb below her last winning mark – but her jumping can be clumsy and she has not hinted that a revival is forthcoming. 

In a weakish race, the door could be open for McManus’s other runner, Songo, to take the spoils. 

He made a belated chasing debut here last month, when he jumped fine and shaped well until not appearing to get home over the best part of 23 furlongs. 

Songo drops back in trip and has been eased 3lb to a mark of 96. That looks manageable for a horse who was running creditably off a mark of 76 on the Flat at Goodwood a couple of years ago. 

City Captain has progressed well since joining Harriet Bethell this year, with connections swift to recognise the three-year-old is well served by stiff tracks. 

His three wins this term have been achieved here, Hamilton, Carlisle, and he again stuck well to his task when a close third here last time in a slightly higher-grade race. 

The RaceiQ data tells us he is usually swift to get to 20mph, so he should be able to get a decent early position from stall 1.