Andy Holding's Thursday Horse Racing Tips

Defi du Seuil has been the dominate force in this division all season and he proved he’s the best by some way when landing the Triumph Hurdle at the festival. The way he cruised through that race before powering on up the hill was the impressive feature of the performance and it’s hard to see him getting beat if he’s able to run to a similar level 20 days on. If there is to be a spoiler, FORTH BRIDGE could well turn out to be the surprise package and based on his speed figures, he shouldn’t be totally underestimated. Well suited by an attacking ride over a flat track, his last two victories have demonstrated that Charlie Longsdon’s inmate is capable of running to a very high standard with conditions in his favour and his willingness to battle and freshness are two other attributes that suggest his 14-1 quotes are too big to resist for each-way players looking for an alternative to the favourite.

FREEWAY SPACE(NAP) (best price 11-4) has endured her fair share of bad luck in recent times and she’s fancied to finally get rewards for some sterling efforts in defeat. Runner-up to subsequent Martin Pipe hero Champagne Classic at Thurles two starts ago, she went on to fill out the same position behind The Green Lady at Punchestown on her next outing. Fitted with the first-time pieces on her most recent start at Thurles, she looked to be in total control until she stepped at the third last and came down and providing that tumble has left no lasting effect on her confidence, the daughter of Flemensfirth looks to have a bright chance of gaining compensation off a tempted-looking handicap mark in the hands of crack conditional Barry John Foley.

If you ignore his latest run on soft ground, LAUGHARNE (best price 6-1) would have a much better chance than his odds suggest and being as though his career-best effort came under similar conditions to today over the same C&D, there’s every chance he will defy his price. Runner-up to the useful Theligny at Lingfield back in January, Martin Keighley’s inmate went on to prove too good for Forecast under fast conditions a month later and with that horse going to prove the worth of the form with an excellent effort next time (fell at the last when looking the most likely winner), he simply has to be played on value grounds.

Potentially a good race for the layers as for several reasons, the big two in the betting look vulnerable. On The Fringe, for several seasons, has looked imperious in this division but, having appeared to have every chance in the Foxhunters at the festival (although you could argue he was a bit too far back), he proved to be slightly disappointing. Whether he just had an off day or it was the start of the slow decline, time will only tell, but at 2-1, he makes very little appeal. Pacha Du Polder, much more aggressively ridden than in the previous renewal of the Foxhunters, came out best fair and square on the day. However, it’s hard to erase from the mind, his weak finish from the Melling Road onward in this race last year and he’s only had a short time to recover from what was a gruelling race 20 days ago. With so many permutations, it’s difficult to pin-point with any great degree of accuracy the most likely threat, but one who should go well at a big price is DINEUR (best price 25-1), who at least has already proven himself over today’s fences. Runner-up to On The Fringe in this race last year, he looks to have been trained specifically for the race by Micky Bowen (son of Peter who always does well with his runners here) and he looked on good terms with himself when chasing home the rampant Vasco Du Mee in a decent speed figure hunter chase at Chepstow recently.