Andy Holding's Friday Horse Racing Tips

BALKO DES FLOS (best price 8-1) was in the process of running a huge race in the JLT at the Cheltenham Festival until falling four fences from home, but providing his confidence remains intact, he should be capable of making up for that untimely exit. Prior to that tumble, Henry De Bromhead’s inmate has finished a creditable third behind subsequent Grade 1 hero Disko at Leopardstown and with today’s ground likely to suit him better than most, he makes plenty of appeal. Another to go on the shortlist is WOODLAND OPERA (best price 6-1), representing a team having an embarrassingly good time of things in recent weeks. Since switching his attentions to chasing, the Robin Des Champs gelding has exhibited a decent level of form and arriving here off the back of a smooth victory at Fairyhouse last time out, confidence is high that he can add to his already smart track stats.

In what looks an intriguing renewal of this Grade 1 affair, DIAKALI (best price 16-1) is fancied to punch above his weight representing a team with no fewer than five of the 12-strong field. A smart juvenile, Willie Mullins’ inmate has obviously had one or two issues in recent times, but as he showed last time out at Fairyhouse, he still retains a good deal of his old ability. Indeed, on closer inspection of his performance at the Co Kildare venue, his times figures reveal he ran to an extremely high standard. At the time, the perceived wisdom was that both Hidden Cyclone and Jezki had failed to give their true runnings for one reason or another, but the truth of the matter is that they were up against an opponent who maintained a tremendous gallop throughout the two-mile journey. Although the ratings suggest the son of Sinndar has plenty to find strictly on the book, he clearly ran way above his current mark 11 days ago, and the eight-year-old is well worth a few units in the hope that several of his main rivals might be over the top for the season.

Finian’s Oscar is clearly going to be a very warm order following his recent Aintree romp and representing a team that are walking on water at the moment, but whether there’s enough juice in his price is open to question, and in any case, there appears to be two grossly overpriced rivals based on their recent efforts against him. BLEU BERRY (best price 14-1) and OUTSPOKEN (best price 20-1), first and second at Fairyhosue last time out, have rather sneaked in here under the radar, but their respective time figures they achieved at the Co Kildare track suggest it would be very dangerous to dismiss their claims. Their overall and split times in pulling clear of a useful field point towards them being worthy of a tilt at Grade 1 level (20 lengths quicker on the last circuit than the other Graded winner Al Boum Photo) and with many of today’s field arriving here under a bit of cloud, it’s hard to imagine one of them not hitting the frame at the very least.

The spin doctors to those close to On The Fringe will have us believe that there’s nothing untoward with Enda Bolger’s inmate, but his form this year suggest he’s nowhere near the level which allowed him to dominate this division for the last two seasons so the safest option is to look for an each-way alternative. On the evidence of his most recent display at Fairyhouse, MAPLE MONS (NAP) (best price 9-1) appears in fine fettle and based on his numbers that day, he’s capable of causing a mini shock. In a well-run affair at the Co Kildare track, the fact that he also managed to run the last circuit quicker than the 2m 4f handicap on the same card says a lot for his natural ability and given that he scored with plenty in hand, there’s a decent chance there could be more to come from the son of Great Exhibition.