Rachel Candelora's top tips for Wednesday: Bank on Blue at 9-2

Day two of the Punchestown Festival on Wednesday features the much-anticipated clash between Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Al Boum Photo and the emphatic Aintree Bowl winner Kemboy in the Coral Punchestown Gold Cup.

It should be a cracker but I am focusing on the Flat for my best bets, starting with:

A proper Southwell sprint specialist, this daughter of Mayson has built up a fine record at the Newark track that reads 21212.

Off the back of a four-month break, Honey Gg made all of the running to win over course and distance before coming back a week later to run a solid second from a middle draw carrying a 5lb penalty.

Now she is having her third run off a break - an angle that I love using especially for sprinters - and she has drawn well in stall 7 so she will be on the favoured stands side rail.

In this column a few a weeks ago I suggested Lady Pauline would win this year’s Queen Mary and it is exciting that she will have a prep run at Ascot ahead of the big day.

As a half-sister of Lady Aurelia she is bred to adore this Ascot strip and she was able to stretch her legs over the surface on Monday.

It is eye catching that jockey Johnny Velazquez has taken a few days off from one of the busiest weeks in American racing to come over to ride her here, especially as he has a full book of rides at Churchill on Thursday.

She is a short price in this small field but in my view is still worth supporting.

An exciting runner in a strong renewal of the Sagaro Stakes and Verdana Blue is a definite each-way play.

This Grade One winning hurdler has run well in three starts on the all-weather, including when second in the Listed Wild Flower Stakes at Kempton.

She is making her Flat turf debut, but the way she has quickened on good ground in the Christmas Hurdle and, more recently, on quick going in the Scottish Champion Hurdle proves that she could be electric on this good to firm ground.

While officially she has plenty to find on ratings, I thought that the handicapper was extremely lenient with her opening Flat mark.

Weekender and Dee Ex Bee head the market. The former is a big, gross horse who might need this run and did not prove to me he really wanted 2m last season, while Dee Ex Bee has been disappointing since finishing runner-up in the Derby.

In a race where most of the attention will be focused on the returning Barney Roy there are several high-class horses that will go unnoticed.

Canvassed is stepping up big time in grade but has shown nothing but brilliance in two runs to date.

After cruising home on debut at Newcastle last September he returned off a seven-month break to demolish a novice field at Kempton, under a penalty, where he just breezed up between rivals and won easily.

On the basis of that performance he could be anything and this looks a good spot to test his talent. Barney Roy is undeniably the “back class” horse but he is returning off a failed stud career and statistically horses coming back from standing at stud do not have a great record on their first run back.