Ripon nap May 26: Bollin Joan to underline her love of North Yorkshire

As mentioned previously, Ripon is a track I love and have had many great times there over the years. It's natural for me to look for a winner there and I'm going to side with a mare who has a very good record at the track.

The 14:50 on Thursday is the best race on the card, the Ripon Cathedral Handicap, over 1m2f. It's 0-90 and the one that interests me most is the in-form Bollin Joan, who arrives on the back of a win at York last time, when she was very game.

That success was over an extended 1m2f but we know she stays at least 1m4f and she won't be stopping come the business end here. It was also notable because it was from a career-high winning mark of 85, so even at the age of seven she is as good as ever.

That bodes well here, for she is up another 3lb and in a competitive race. She has three wins and two seconds from seven attempts to her name at Yorkshire's 'Garden Racecourse', including success over C&D and conditions, forecast as good, should be ideal. She has also won on good to soft, so any easing in the ground will not be a problem.

Add to that, her trainer Tim Easterby won this race last year, which is also a nice little angle to have on our side and it adds up to a bet for me.

So, to recap, it's Bollin Joan to win the 14:50 at Ripon on Thursday. Good luck!