Andy Holding's Friday Horse Racing Tips

Soft ground and forceful tactics brought about a huge change in fortunes for NIGHT OF SIN (best price 11-4) at Bangor last time out, so providing Lizzie Kelly adopts a similar policy this time around, there’s every chance the Sinndar gelding will respond in kind again. Disappointing the time before behind Charlie Parcs at Kempton, Nick Williams’ charge seemed to really enjoy bowling along and doing his own thing at the North Wales track and racing over a course where it often pays to race handy, this honest galloper could take some pegging back if allowed to dictate from the front.

LABEL DES OBEAUX (best price 7-4) impressed by his attitude and the way he jumped (very neat and tidy with his front legs) at Ludlow last time out and he can put the final touches to his Cheltenham preparations in the best possible fashion. Forced to miss his intended target at Ascot last weekend due to a tiny cut while out schooling, Alan King’s charge is reportedly in fine fettle now and having already proven himself over today’s C&D with an excellent effort behind RSA-bound American earlier in the campaign, he rates the value call to put it up to Wild West Wind.

There’s no doubt William Money could still be extremely well treated off his current mark, but he did have quite a hard race on testing ground at Ludlow only two days ago (just got on top on the run-in), so the percentage call is to go for similarly progressive mare ACT NOW (best price 9-2) from an each-way stance. A smooth winner when asked to race beyond 3m for the first time at Plumpton two starts, Anthony Honeyball’s mare then had the misfortune to bump into the well-handicapped Two Swallows on her latest outing at Towcester. That said, the pair pulled well enough clear of the rest of the field to suggest the daughter of Act One still remains well treated herself, and as she also made a bad blunder which knocked her nose out of joint two out, her performance deserves even more credit.

In what appears to be a fairly weak affair, REEK SUNDAY (best price 20-1) will hopefully find the necessary improvement following a promising debut to play a significant role in this similar heat. Slow away when a 33-1 chance on her opening bow two weeks ago, the Requinto filly made some pleasing headway in the home straight to suggest there are plenty of decent days to be gleaned further down the line and with tonight’s extra furlong also threatening to help her cause, a better break this time around she see her easily outrun her odds.

LIGETI (NAP) (best price 11-10) won apologising here last week and with the prospect of a good deal more to come over tonight’s extra trip, Joseph O’Brien’s charge looks a solid bet to follow up. Prior to his romp seven days ago, the son of Rip Van Winkle had intimated on several occasions he could be way better than his opening mark of 55, and even though he only scored by a narrow margin on handicap debut, Connor King did really well to disguise how much he actually had left in the locker.