Monday tips: Andy Stephens marks your card after Epsom strikes

It’s appropriate that there are two divisions of the Mr Wolf Sprint Handicap at on Monday because he was never one for half-measures at the Yorkshire course. 

Mr Wolf was a standing dish at Ponty, running there on 38 occasions between 2005 and 2012. He won there eight times and was second or third on another 11 occasions before being retired. 

He ended his career with Paul Midgley, having also been trained by John Quinn at one time. The former has runners in both divisions, while Quinn is represented by Red Mirage in division two. 

I’ve got five fancies on an eight-race card you can enjoy live on Racing TV, with The Verdict and Angus McNae’s Epsom reflections following straight after at 9pm. See what he made of the Betfred Derby.

All five runners in this apprentice handicap arrive here in form, reflected by the fact that all bar Hover On The Wind have been raised by the handicapper since last being in action. 

The Paul Midgley-trained five-year-old looks the one to beat, though, as he got sucked into a pace battle here at last time, which opened the door for Protest Rally to overhaul him in the closing stages. 

It looks like Hover On The Wind will get an easier time upfront on this occasion and, if so, he will take some catching. Also, once you consider all the jockey switches and claims, he is effectively 11lb better off with Protest Rally. 

His 3lb claimer, Shay Farmer, is certainly enjoying a purple patch. He struck on a 50-1 winner on Saturday, having scored on a 22-1 chance the previous week. He’s won on four of his 16 past rides. 

Henrietta Knight’s horses are absolutely flying, with seven of her past 19 runners hitting the target and another six finishing runner-up. 

Educator has been part of her recent success story, scoring at 28-1 at Lingfield before following up at 9-1 at Windsor. Unfortunately, we are unlikely to get such fancy odds this time, but he’s clearly at the top of his game and can complete a hat-trick. 

He’s gone up an aggregate of 8lb for his recent wins – both achieved by sweeping through from well off the pace – but is still 12lb lower in the ratings than this time two years ago. 

Keep an eye on him should Knight choose to switch him to a handicap hurdle at some stage. He’s got a rating of 101 after three average initial efforts and is clearly going to be well-treated. He can leap, too, getting a satisfactory Jump Index score of 7.6 from RaceiQ at Huntingdon in January. 

These long-distance races at Pontefract generally attract small fields but we’ve got a double-figure field to consider here. 

There is one who stands out among them, and that is Queen Of Steel, who looks to have been transformed by the switch to the yard of Fergal O’Brien this year. 

She won handicap hurdles at Ffos Las and Wetherby in the space of a week in March before being switched back to the level at Nottingham last time, where she romped home by almost ten lengths. 

The handicapper has taken a swipe after that drubbing, hitting her with a 10lb rise, but she’s still able to compete in a low grade. More significant, she clearly stays all day and that counts for so much on this stiff track. Expect Gina Mangan, who aboard last time, to again make plenty of use of her. 

I don’t know how many horses have traded at the minimum price of 1.01 in-running on Betfair and been beaten, but Distinction is among them after an agonising defeat over an extended mile at Beverley last time. 

He looked sure to win for much of the final furlong, only to be joined on the line and the photo finish to reveal he had been beaten by a nose. 

John Mackie is pushing him back up to ten furlongs here, a distance the seven-year-old has never won over. However, he’s run well in defeat over the trip, including at Doncaster in March when he was again matched at odds-on in the run. 

The assessor has nudged him up 2lb for his latest effort, but that was probably the least he could expect. Moreover, he’s still 6lb lower in the ratings than when scoring at Pontefract last summer. 

I’ll also have to save on Casilli, too, as she’s become something of a cliff horse for me (in fact I’m probably over the clff and halfway down the other side). She was again not seen to best advantage last time. 

Fierce has run three interesting races over 5f since joining Paul Midgley, and moving up to 6f can help him get back to winning ways. 

He was unlucky not to win on stable debut at Newcastle, having had a wind op, and then caught the eye from a poor draw at Beverley. 

Last time, he returned to that track to finish a close fourth when not quite having the necessary zip. 

The form of that race is working out a treat. The winner, Ingleby Archie, followed up in a 20-runner handicap at York while the fifth and seventh have also won since, and the third came within a short head of scoring next time. 

Profiteer, who won twice at Pontefract in October, rates the main threat.