Musselburgh – Easter Saturday – CopyBet

This sprint will be fast and furious over five furlongs up the straight at Musselburgh and that test suits MON NA SLIEVE. The Kevin Ryan-trained four-year-old has loads of speed and showed that when scoring impressively over course and distance at the start of this month.

Mon Na Slieve was always nicely placed upsides the leaders and went to the front on the near-side rail over a furlong out. He ran on strongly from that point to score by a length.

There are only eight runners in this line-up and Mon Na Slieve is drawn high towards the stands’ side rail again in stall six. There is every chance that he can show his trademark speed before getting on to the fence again and producing a carbon copy of his last victory.

He is up 5lb and this is a better race than last time, but he was rated 10lb higher than this at his peak and is still well handicapped on his best form. There could be plenty more to come.

The opening handicap is a cracking race and there are some strong contenders from southern yards towards the head of the market. However, the best bet might come from a northern stable in the shape of ZOWAL, who represents the John and Sean Quinn team.

The three-year-old had progressive form figures reading 332 when trained by Jean-Claude Rouget in France and made the perfect start for the Quinn stable in Britain when a comfortable winner of a course-and-distance maiden 17 days ago. Fitness is on his side.

Zowal did plenty wrong when set about his task that day, running green and hanging under pressure as though he was still in need of the experience. However, he finished his race off nicely and was well on top at the finish, leaving the red-hot favourite Motawaared in third.

The handicapper has left Zowal’s mark unchanged for this British handicap debut and there should be more to come under Jason Hart, who was also on board last time.

WISE EAGLE isn’t a massive longshot, but he is still a decent price and there is a chance that he can land the Queen’s Cup for the second time, having been successful two years ago.

The evergreen eight-year-old is only 5lb higher than for that success and he simply loves Musselburgh. He has five wins from six starts at the course under both codes and was beaten just a short-head into second on the one occasion he was beaten. This is his track.

His last visit here resulted in a 23-length success over hurdles and Wise Eagle has been running well away from his favourite venue recently. He was a good second on the Flat on Newcastle’s Tapeta in January and also finished runner-up over hurdles at Kelso last time.

He is a better horse on the level, so returning to this discipline will suit, and trainer Adam Nicol will almost certainly have had this race in mind. Wise Eagle should therefore be fully wound up now that he returns from 64 days on the sidelines, which will have freshened him up.