Paul Kealy's play of the day at Ripon

The ever-popular nine-year-old has taken a while to come to hand on turf this season, as he did last, but a fourth to subsequent Stewards' Cup winner Aberama Gold at York last month suggests he's nearly there.

The good news is he has dropped 12lb since the start of the season and is now 5lb lower than when winning last year's Ayr Gold Cup.

He has twice run in the Great St Wilfrid from single-figure draws and won his side both times, finishing second on soft ground to Dakota Gold in 2019 and fourth last year, and he looks certain to be on the premises.

He got upset in the stalls and was taken out of the Stewards' Cup, but the weather was brutal then and I wouldn't blame him for that. It might have done him a favour not having had to run through that bog.