Wednesday’s Racing: Irish raider Agusta Gold clashes with Alsa Mix at Bangor

Wednesday’s meeting includes a trio of tidy cards at Ayr, Bangor-on-Dee and Exeter, each featuring a potentially smart novice and a decent midweek handicap.

Lossiemouth was far from disgraced in a useful looking race won by Imperial Alcazar at Aintree on Old Roan Chase day, and is an odds-on shot to get off the mark over obstacles in Ayr’s second race, whilst in the feature at the Scottish venue, a Class 3 handicap chase, Bafana Blue, who has been a revelation recently for Maurice Barnes, looks to make it five wins from his last six starts.

Bangor host arguably their best meeting of the season, with the first real race of note, a listed mares’ novice chase, seeing Mags Mullins’ Irish raider Agusta Gold clash with Alsa Mix, a Grade Two winner as a novice hurdler last season.

The Anne Duchess of Westminster Chase features a number of decent chasers rated in the 130s- the favourite Commodore won on both occasions last season for Venetia Williams, but I’d side with Stuart Edmunds’ Classic Ben, who is only 3lb higher than when winning a much deeper race than this at Sandown last February.

Bangor’s novice hurdle is another good contest; Springfield Fox was three out of three in points and makes his rules debut up against Dino Boy, who was far from disgraced when fourth at Wetherby behind Jatiluwih last month, whilst in the following handicap, The Wolf and Chti Balko are amongst familiar names in the lineup.

Two interesting novice chases are the highlights at Exeter, with a novice handicap over 3m featuring the likes of De Name Evades Me, Virginia Chick, Worthy Farm, Golden Sunrise and Truckin Away preceding a beginners’ chase over 2m3f including the evenly matched hurdling pair Esprit Du Large and Coolanly, as well as The Mighty Don, who was their superior over the smaller obstacles but may find the trip on the sharp side in this.