Andy Holding's Sunday Racing Tips

Sandra Hughes has enjoyed a bit of a renaissance in recent weeks and in the shape of TOTAL RECALL (best price 16-1), the Curragh handler has a fine chance of capturing her biggest pot of the season. A useful hurdler, the son of Westerner made an inauspicious start to his chasing career with a fall and an unseat in four starts, but either side of those blips have come a couple of smart efforts, none more so than his latest performance at Navan. Always travelling and jumping well in behind the speed, he took up the running travelling well three out and staying on strongly in the latter stages, he pulled readily clear of a decent field to score in a fast time. Up 7lb for that success, the eight-year-old still has enough potential improvement to suggest his revised mark of 130 is not insurmountable and odds of 16-1 look far too big for a horse of his quality to resist.
Of those at the front end of the market, A TOI PHIL (best price 6-1) makes the most appeal and he’s also worth adding to the portfolio. Impressive when beating a stellar field in the Florida Pearl Novices’ Chase at Punchestown earlier in the season, he wasn’t quite at his best for one reason or another in the Grade 1 Drinmore next time out and similar comments apply to his latest effort on his latest start over today’s course. That said, he did shape a good deal better on that occasion when stamina looked to be an obvious excuse for his final finishing position and now dropping back down in trip, Gordon Elliot’s charge has the class to be competitive off his allotted handicap mark.

Heartbreak City has the look of an extremely well handicapped horse based on his latest exploits on the flat, but he hasn’t been missed in the market whereas VEINARD (NAP) (best price 18-1) seems to have been slightly overlooked. A frustrating character when trained by Robert Bewley in the sense he used to sometimes travel well without finding a great deal off the bridle, the son of Shaanmer has shown on occasions with new connections that he hasn’t totally ironed out all his old habits, but at the same time he has been running to a totally different level than he did before. Two starts ago, for instance, he came there swinging off the bridle on the run down to the last over today’s C&D only to get worried out of things in the dying strides by That’s A Wrap, but at least that performance – albeit a slightly irritating one for connections – proved that he can mix it against the very best handicap hurdlers over 2m. Although he was slightly disappointing when beaten by Indian Monsoon at Cork last time out, the combination of the winner being a thoroughly progressive type and heavy ground just proved too testing an examination for Gordon Elliot’s charge in the latter stages, so there are grounds to give him the benefit of the doubt for that defeat. Back to the scene of his fine effort the time before on ground that should allow his high-cruising speed to come into good effect, the eight-year-old makes plenty of each-way appeal at his morning odds.