Monday tips: Andy Stephens marks your card

Jim Goldie has his horses in fine fettle, scoring with eight of his past 19 runners, and it will be a surprise if he does not hit the target with one of his ten runners at Ayr on Monday. 

The well-bred Spun To Gold had a rating of 76 when joining Goldie from Andrew Balding but a string of modest efforts saw him tumble 19lb in just seven runs. 

That all changed here at Ayr last week when he won under Paul Mulrennan after being much better fancied in the betting and was given a much more positive ride. 

The first five, including a couple who re-oppose here, ended up in a bit of heap and Spun To Gold needed the line by the finish, but he was entitled to be getting a little weary as he got locked up in a speed duel early on and the RaceiQ sectionals tell us he went hard for the first three furlongs. The other horses who raced prominently all faded. 

There are no habitual front-runners in this line up and I’m hoping Spun To Gold will have an easier time in the opening exchanges. If he does, then a 5lb rise in the ratings is unlikely to prevent him following up. 

This looks another for the Goldie/Mulrennan combination, with Sophiesticate having obvious claims after her unlucky defeat here last week. 

She lost a couple of lengths when having to switch to the outside for a run approaching the final furlong but picked up strongly to be beaten only a neck. 

The one silver lining here is that the six-year-old, owned by the Ayr Racing Club, is able to race off a 1lb lower mark here, rather than under a penalty. And having been apprentice ridden in all her races this season, Mulrennan is now summoned. 

Spartan Times is the obvious threat after his back-to-back wins at Ffos Las, but he has been hit with a 10lb rise for his latest narrow win, albeit it was gained with something to spare. 

Soft ground is on the cards at Beverley on Monday night but that will be no bother for Milteye, who stuck on well to score on testing ground at Carlisle last time under an inexperienced rider who did not resort to the Pro Cush. 

That win had been on the cards after a consistent sequence of runs and a 3lb rise looks manageable, especially with Cam Hardie back on board. 

Milteye had previously split Westernesse and Bosphurus Rose at Ripon, with the third since going in at Epsom. 

He is a horse who has not been with Harriet Bethell for long, and she may be able to squeeze a bit more out of him. 

The pair who may give him most to do are Whatacracker, a consistent type fitted with a first-time visor, and Dr Rio, who gained a fifth course win here last week but has never won back-to-back.