The last at Cagnes-sur-Mer this afternoon is a competitive handicap for three-year-olds with a number of lightly-raced options.

Eccelso makes plenty of appeal for the in-form Gianluca Bietolini team that has had 9 podium finishes this calendar year from 16 runners.

Eccelso was once thought to be Bietolini’s best two-year-old and although there are questionmarks (the trainer mentioned blinkers as an option in the Paris Turf yesterday), he looks very well handicapped off 31.0.

He ran three lifeless races as a juvenile colt at the back end of last year but once gelded in October, he ran his best race to date in similar company, finishing third to two horses who have subsequently franked the form – the second won next time out and the winner placed in another handicap off a 3kg penalty.

There is every chance that he will step forward again today, his second start after the operation and back on the polytrack which he handled well. His half-brother Exchequer has been a specialist over this trip and achieved marks in the 90s as a five-year-old and half-sister Charm Appeal won a listed as a three-year-old – the page suggests he will keep improving with age.

3.07pm Cagnes-sur-Mer – 1pt win Eccelso @ 6-1 (all firms, or 13/2 with bet365)