Ascot Lime's progressive profile offers tasty bet.

Byline: RICHARD AUSTEN

IN perusing the cards each day, the starting point for punters is presumably to find a horse they want to back. If that fails, the next best thing is one to oppose.

Without stepping on the toes of Trading Post and its horses to lay, if the reaction to a relatively short-priced runner is antipathy, there is a natural reaction to play against it by supporting others about whom there should in consequence be added value.

There are enough Flat horses to oppose at this time of the year, when the novelty and pleasure of racing are starting to wear a bit thin among many of the horse population. While the balance has not yet tipped, there are as many jumps as Flat cards in Britain today and a persistent feeling when looking at the Flat runners is that they too might soon be called on to face eight flights of hurdles.

The prime example among today's action is probably the 1m6f maiden at Great Leighs, a race in which a couple of chiefly jumps stables are already represented and several leading Flat stables probably would not kick up much of a fuss if their representatives were shortly to represent someone else.

Most strikingly, there is Houghton, who is a 140,000gns yearling, a halfbrother to the smart Yellowstone, is owned by the Tabor-Smith-Magnier combo, trained by Sir Michael Stoute and, above all for punters' purposes, has a touch of the slows.

The last-named feature would not prevent him from having a huge chance in today's race but there is a suspicion that there might be more to it than that, one that connections seemed to share as they fitted him with a visor last time out.

Having had a go on him on the last three occasions, Stoute stable jockey Ryan Moore is not travelling down from Pontefract to Great Leighs today. The trouble in opposing Houghton is that it is no easier to work up enough enthusiasm for those in this field that have shown some ability.

Stoute and Moore crop up together in Pontefract's feature, the Dalby Screw-Driver Handicap (4.30), a much better class of race but one in which, like the aforementioned maiden, an unhealthy number of the field are showing signs of having a screw loose.

Their representative Ascot Lime is not one of them. Ten weeks ago in this column, Ascot Lime was compared unfavourably with Presvis as a thriceraced maiden making its handicap debut when both ran at Sandown, but a more forcing ride combined with the step up in trip saw him go very close.

In two further handicaps (at 1m2f and 1m3f) Ascot Lime has not looked back and I doubt whether his latest improved effort was down solely to his appearance on Polytrack.

He is unlikely to make it look easy - that is not his style - but even without considering the chance of further progress, a bold show from Ascot Lime should be forthcoming.

What makes Ascot Lime all the more appealing is his progressive profile compared with today's seven rivals. Luberon is feared easily the most and, at the least, is likely to lead Ascot Lime and the others into the straight; but although his last two results are easy enough to forgive given the breakneck pace at which he set off, the way that Luberon lost his form last season has not been forgotten.

The other two races at Pontefract that threaten to draw me in are the 1m nursery for fillies and the 1m2f apprentice handicap.

In the former, Caster Sugar is trained by Luca Cumani, is out of dual Yorkshire Oaks winner Only Royale and, not that surprisingly, is shaping as if the move up from 7f will suit, but I am not sure that she is that promising yet.

Zaaqya and Musical Maze were considered alternatives but with no firm conclusion. There is no such hesitation, however, about the apprentice handicap at 5.30.

Princess Flame is not a controversial choice given her game win against an improving rival over the same course and distance last week under today's partner Kylie Manser, but if in the same form she should not have much, if any, difficulty in following up.

Today's bets

Ascot Lime

4.30 Pontefract

1pt win

Princess Flame

5.30 Pontefract

2pts win