Andy Holding's Friday Horse Racing Tips

POUGNE BOBBI (best price 6-4) looked a horse seriously on the rise when he made a mockery of his current mark on handicap debut at Ludlow last week, so despite the slight reservations about this shorter trip, connections are fully entitled to come here in order to strike while the iron is hot. Not only was Nicky Henderson’s charge visually impressed by the way he tanked his way through that competitive affair, his overall time figure and sectionals suggests he has the sort of natural pace to cope with the minimum trip, and racing over a track that often rewards a bold, attacking ride, this big, imposing sort should be capable of following up providing he’s in a similar sort of destructive mood.

PADDOCKS LOUNGE (best price 13-2) has really come of age of late and the hat trick looks on the cards based on his recent performance at Leicester. Setting off to make the runner in usual fashion, Sophie Leech’s inmate never looked in danger at any stage and even though he ran out of company in the latter stages, he still posted a number that suggest he still may be ahead of the handicapper. Although both his last two victories have come at the Midland venue, that stiff course on heavy ground has many similarities to today’s track and providing Richard Johnson can get the fractions right from the from, the son of Oscar could take some pegging back.

Although his form figures don’t say it, MO HENRY (best price 12-1) has actually run to a very decent standard in his three starts here this winter and he can take advantage of a significant drop in class. Runner-up to Chosen Rock on his first outing of the all-weather campaign, Adrian Keatley’s inmate then found himself in pretty deep waters up against Ellaria and Co on his next visit and although he failed to better his finishing position in a similar contest last time, the speed figure of the race won by Patrick was the fastest furlong-per-furlong time recorded here in recent times. Although not a regular over tonight’s minimum trip, the son of Monsieur Bond has got a couple of decent runs against his name over 5f in the past and if it weren’t for the slightly below-par form of his stable, confidence would be even higher that the five-year-old will outrun his odds. Red All Star and Strategic Heights look the obvious threats.

Difficult to be dogmatic with so many out of form runners in the field, but a chance is taken on LIGETI (best price 2-1) building on what was a promising performance on all-weather debut here 28 days ago. Having his first run off the back of a 94-day layoff, the son of Rip Van Winkle was a little sleepy when the gates crashed back and, as a result, he found himself in an unpromising position turning for home. Picking up nicely down the lane, however, he gave out the kind of signals to suggest he has more ability than his current handicap mark implies, and providing he can break more alertly and get himself into a better early position this time around, Joseph O’Brien’s inmate should be capable of getting into the mix.

PATRICK (NAP) (best price 7-2) clocked a crazy time on his first run for his rookie trainer 14 days ago and providing he doesn’t bounce to the moon off the back of that eye-watering effort, he should be good enough to turn away this similar field. Always handy throughout, this ex-Richard Fahey inmate travelled well off solid fractions set by the front-running Geological, then once set alight down the lane, he readily held a decent field of handicappers who’d all shown up prominently in some of the best handicaps run previously this winter.

Most of these known each other on first named terms, so a good deal depends on how the tactics pan out. If they go a reasonable clip however, the chief beneficiaries based on their figures should turn out to be SPECIFIC GRAVITY (best price 11-2) and Song Of Love. The former, in particularly, couldn’t arrive here in any better form following a deserved victory over his old rival last time out and the one box should ensure he preserves valuable ground around the inner. At his morning odds of 5-1, he rates the value each-way call in a tightly-knit affair.