Andy Holding's Monday Horse Racing Tips

YORKIST (best price 4-1) has been plying his trade in much stiffer company that what he faces here this afternoon and this looks a decent opportunity for Dan Skelton’s charge to provide his in-form handler with another winner. A winner on his second start for new connections at Wetherby back in December, the son of Urban Ocean has finished in the money on each of his last three starts but as they’ve been at two festivals where the competition has been extremely stiff, they each hold plenty of credence when putting it into context with today’s race. His close-up fourth behind Double W’s in a Class 1 handicap at Aintree for instance, reads really well on paper and with today’s sharp track and fast ground very much in his favour, it would come as a huge shock if he wasn’t extremely competitive off this sort of mark.

Plenty of this field can throw their hat into to the ring with obvious-looking claims but the two that stand out at the morning prices are FREE STONE HILL (best price 5-1) and INSTANT KARMA (best price 6-1). The former has been a slow-burner for Dan Skelton, but on the evidence of his latest performance at Exeter, he looks in line for a productive summer now the ground has switched in his favour. Although he was a slightly lucky winner last time out when he picked up the pieces late on after his stable mate Shantou Rock fell at the last, he was shaping with plenty of promise until the drama unfolded in front of him, and in any case, he still proved too good for the 128-rated Wishful Dreaming on the run-in, so it would be dangerous to crib him too much. A lightly-raced sort with plenty of scope for improvement, today’s likely well-run race will suit and he certainly shapes much better than what his current rating suggests. The latter hails from a stable in cracking form at present and certainly deserves more than a second looks at a track where he’s gone well in the past. Although disappointing when pulled up on his latest start over hurdles, soft ground and 2m 5f probably tested his stamina to the limit that day and he’s better judged on his sound effort behind the useful Sternrubin the time before at Ascot.

In a race where most of the field have pretty uninspiring overall profiles and solid recent form, REMARKABLE LADY (NAP) (best price 9-2) is fancied to stick her head above the rubble. A big eye-catcher on her first outing of the season at Leopardstown, Harry Roger’s inmate was quietly fancied in many quarters to make amends on her latest start at Cork 23 days ago but unfortunately things didn’t pan out for her either at the Munster venue. Held up out the back door by Pat Smullen, the daughter of Zoffany found herself with only one horse behind her turning for home and in a race where it most definitely paid to be handy, she had absolutely no chance of making any discernible inroads to the front runners. She did, however, finish off her race with plenty of purpose and with tonight’s small field pointing towards her being much more competitive from the outset, the four-year-old filly can finally prove she’s better than her current rating and form figures suggest.

GIVEAWAY GLANCE (best price 10-1) was hugely disappointing on her final two starts on the Flat last season, but her subsequent exploits over hurdles suggests she may well be a totally different proposition on her return to the level off the back of a break. A winner of two useful juvenile hurdles at Doncaster and Catterick, Alan King’s inmate rounded off a productive time during the winter with her best performance in four outings when chasing home the much-improved Deauville Dancer in a strongly-run contest at Warwick and hailing from a yard that do particularly well with their runners during the summer months, she looks a big price given her current wellbeing.