Bath Preview: Tolmias tough to beat

Trainer Luca Cumani does very well with his runners at Bath, and Tolmias looks to have outstanding claims of giving him another winner in the extended 5f contest this evening (8.10).

The Newmarket handler has a strike rate of 25% with his runners at the track since 2000, and Tolmias is his sole runner on the seven-race card.

The son of Ialysos is a well-bred sort who shaped with plenty of promise in his first two starts.

In the second of those Tolmias ran far better than the final finishing position suggests when a 10 1/4 length fourth of 15 to the 85-rated Royal Seal over 7f at Yarmouth.

The gelding was held-up at the rear, and made steady progress at the halfway stage before keeping on under tender handling.

Tolmias was then hampered by a faller when well beaten at Lingfield earlier in the month, but is almost certainly capable of better than he has shown.

The drop back in trip should not inconvenience, and connections looks to have found a very weak contest which looks a gilt edged opportunity for Tolmias to get off the mark.

Not Rigg has become dangerously well-treated and looks decent value to take advantage in the 1m handicap (6.10).
The gelding opened his account over a mile at Nottingham on fast ground last summer when trained by Gary Harrison, making virtually all and holding on gamely to beat The Scuttler by a neck off a mark of 70.
Since then Nott Rigg has managed to make the frame just once in 10 subsequent starts, but his handicap mark has plummeted as a result and the four-year-old now runs off a career-low rating of 57.

That gives Nott Rigg a huge chance at the weights, and the son of Henrythenavigator ran well on his first start for trainer Nick Littmoden when fifth of 12 at Yarmouth last time out.

That was Nott Rigg’s first run for 104 days, and should have blown away the cobwebs and put him spot on for this.

In the 1m 4f madien (9.10), Approaching Star looks head and shoulders above her rivals and impossible to oppose.

The William Haggas trained filly disappointed last time out on the all-weather at Lingfield but had previously shaped with bags of promise on debut when seventh of 11 to Inchila in a hot maiden at Newbury.