Musselburgh double for Mullen and Appleby

MICK Appleby and Andrew Mullen were the men to follow at Musselburgh yesterday as they landed both feature races for a 16/1 double.

Poplar Close wins the second race at Musselburgh. Picture: Phil Wilkinson

Locally-born in nearby Tranent, Mullen won on Shipyard for Appleby in the Heart of Midlothian Football Club Handicap before Katie Gale took the Download Your Racing UK App Handicap for the same combination just half an hour later.

Newark-based Appleby said of Shipyard, making his UK debut: “He keeps a bit back for himself and looks a bit of a monkey, but he will be better back up at 6f.

“I haven’t done much with him since he came from Ireland but I think he could be a nice horse.”

Three-time Southwell scorer Katie Gale was losing her maiden tag on turf and Appleby added: “She liked the fibresand bend as it reminded her of the all weather!

“She’ll have a few more races followed by break in the winter again and then come back for turf again. This was only her fifth race on turf, so, hopefully, there will be more to come.”

Meanwhile, Tumblewind sho- uld be in her absolute element back over five furlongs at Catterick today , writes Glendale.

Richard Whitaker’s sprinter has done all of her winning over the minimum trip, but she has been ticking along nicely over farther this summer and is surely close to a return to her best.

The five-year-old was a little subdued on her seasonal bow at Ripon in May, but solid shows over six furlongs at Chester and Pontefract bode really well for the Sky Bet Supporting Yorkshire Racing Summer Festival Handicap. Tumblewind looked on particularly good terms with herself on her most recent visit to a racecourse when she got to within three lengths of Nameitwhatyoulike in the King Richard III Stakes at the last-named venue.

This again looks quite a nice race, but the Captain Rio mare has the huge advantage of going back to her preferential distance.

Declan Carroll’s team are in fine order, with Pull The Plug fancied to be the latest winner from Sledmere when she runs at Leicester.

The four-year-old filly began the season by knocking off tidy victories at Wolverhampton and Doncaster, and showed at Carlisle a few weeks ago she is not yet hamstrung by the assessor.