Andy Holding's Saturday Horse Racing Tips

BILLESDON BROOK (best price 7-4) shaped with a huge amount of promise on debut at Salisbury and she should prove hard to beat with that initial experience under her belt. Badly hampered after a few strides at the Wiltshire venue 27 days ago, Richard Hannon’s inmate found herself last and with a mountain to climb at halfway, but in picking up nicely in taking fashion in the closing stages, she fairly rattled home to finish a never-nearer third behind the race-fit and more experienced Daddies Girl. Given how strong she was in the final furlong, today’s extra distance should play into her strengths and with the form of the race receiving a boost with stable mate Campion scoring at Bath last night, the daughter of Champs Elysees can follow suit providing there isn’t any world-beater waiting in the midst.

Siding with a Godolphin-trained runner who posted a big speed figure first time out has never been a particularly wise idea based on past results, but hopefully AQABAH (best price 3-1) can prove good enough to buck that trend as he bids to step up on his impressive debut success at Ascot. Running green for majority of the journey at the Berkshire venue, Charlie Appleby’s charge didn’t really get the message until very late on in the piece, but finding a nice turn of foot once in top gear inside the final 100 yards, he picked up really strongly to gain the day in the shadows of the post. The way he hit the line, the conventional wisdom suggests he will prove even more effective over an extra furlong and with the third-placed horse that evening, Haddaf, going on to give the form some substance with an excellent effort from a bad draw in the National Stakes at Sandown the other night, there’s every reason to feel confident the son of Exchange Rate will have a big part to play in today’s outcome.

The combination of being held up over 5f and the reapplication of the hood worked wonders for LOVE ON THE ROCKS (best price 10-1) at Bath on her seasonal reappearance and now returning to the scene of one of her best performances during her three-year-old campaign, Charlie Hills’ charge is expected to go well. A real exuberant type, the daughter of Exceed And Excel tried to blast away from the front on her first visit to the Knavesmire last August and although those tactics almost paid off that day when she hung on grimly for second, the same run-style failed miserably on her return to the Yorkshire track two months later. The way she was ridden on her first outing for 189 days suggests that a new training regime and rethink on the way she approached her races have been the focal plan in getting this filly to switch off, and given the time figure and the way she picked off several subsequent winners at the Wiltshire venue, bright times look ahead for this unexposed four-year-old.

One of the best races based on pure speed figures so far this season was the Group 3 Marble Stakes at Ascot won by Blue Point and having run so well to finish a creditable second, it’s no great surprise to find Harry Angel a strong favourite to go one place better. However, the ground was extremely firm here yesterday, so unless the track receives some rain, taking odds-on about Clive Cox’s star might not be the wisest move ever, so the safest option is to play the third home that day, MUBTASIM (best price 7-1), on pure value grounds. Having his first run of the campaign following a productive year as a two-year-old, William Haggas’ inmate shaped as though the run would have brought him on quite considerably and with no ground concerns and having already scored over today’s C&D, there’s no way he should be seven times the price of his old rival based on all known form.

POSITIVELY DYLAN (best price 11-4) finally got his act together when scoring over tonight’s course last time out and he’s taken to follow up that success having that all-important superior track knowledge over his two main markets rivals. In what turned out to be a strongly-run handicap, Evan Williams’ inmate impressed by the way he stayed on in the closing stages and with the form of that race given a big boost when fourth-placed One Term scored at Worcester yesterday, confidence is high that he can brush aside his winners’ penalty.