Andy Holding's Friday Horse Racing Tips

ATTAIN (best price 5-2) seemed to appreciate the step up in trip when getting off the mark for new connections here last week and he’s fancied to keep up the good work for his in-form Lambourn handler. Picked up for shirt buttons out of a seller four starts ago, Archie Watson’s charge has just taken a while to bed in to his new surroundings based on his first two efforts, but he left those slight disappointments well and truly behind him with an altogether more polished display here seven days ago. On his first try over 1m 4f, the son of Dansili proved very strong in the finish to get the better of in-form General Hazard and with his overall time suggesting it was career-high performance, the eight-year-old can keep the ball rolling.

Plenty arrive here in good nick such as Duchessofflorence and Alnahar, but the fly in the ointment to those in-form runners could well turn out to be WAR GODDESS (best price 9-2)who caught the eye in no uncertain terms here last week. Promising the time before in a useful maiden, the daughter of Champs Elysees went into her first handicap off a workable mark of 65 and on the evidence of what we saw seven days ago, she could easily take advantage of that perch sooner rather than later. All dressed up with nowhere to go down the lane, Joseph O’Brien’s charge never got the chance to open up at any stage and in hitting the line hard without ever coming off the bridle, she gave out positive signals that she could be poised to strike against similar opposition next time.

ALAN’S PRIDE (NAP) (best price 2-1) hit the ball out of the park on the figures here last week and given how well prominent racers have dominated at recent meetings (worth watching previous races here tonight to see whether trend continues), Richard O’Brien’s charge could be hard to catch providing he obtains an early lead. Just touched off in the closing stages the time before, the Footstepsinthesand gelding found the necessary improvement to gain a resounding victory seven days ago and with a run-style and cruising speed that lends itself to pace rather than stamina, a drop back to 6f should play into his strengths.