Andy Holding's Thursday Racing Tips

The form figures of KING’S WHARF (best price 9-2) make for pretty ugly viewing to the casual observer and many would wonder what on earth he’s doing as favourite in the morning lists, but there’s more than just an outside chance that he will make a mockery of his current handicap mark under the right conditions and when the cards fall in his favour. A useful hurdler/chaser for Willie Mullins, the son of Clodovil made an immediate impact for new connections when landing a gamble in a competitive chase at Kelso back in May and although he never really featured in a valuable contest at Listowel next time out, the combination of soft ground and the 2m 4f trip was always going to count against him trying to give weight away to the likes of in-form pair Dean’s Road and Lucky Pat. Back on the level last time out at Leopardstown, Gavin Cromwell’s charge was understandably an interesting proposition for many punters off his bargain basement mark, as he was sent off 7-1 third-favourite in a 17-strong field and even though he failed to justify his position in the market, he ran a much better race than his final placing suggested. In-keeping with how many races seem to develop at the Dublin track nowadays, a slow early gallop led to a sprint down the home straight and for a horse that has always been at his best coming off a strong pace, he was never likely to be a feature given he only had two behind him with three furlongs to run. The eight-year-old, however, did finish off his race to such a degree that he gave out plenty of positive signals for the future, and if he does get a better pace to shoot at this time around, he looks booked to add a decent number in front of his string of bagels. 

MIRO (best price 7-1) has run two promising races since returning from a 226-day absence and he looks primed for another prominent display a week on from a cracking effort at the Curragh. In a well-run apprentice affair, Gordon Elliot’s inmate was noted doing some good late work from an unpromising position turning for home and that performance on top of another sound effort at Limerick previously, all point towards this useful hurdler throwing his hat in the ring for top honours.

Being a fully paid-up member of the On To Victory fan club, it goes against the grain to oppose Eve Johnson-Houghton’s improving colt given his current wellbeing, but he faces no easy task giving away weight to the equally promising SEE OF ROME (best price 9-1) and at the prices, the latter is a no-brainer as a strong each-way alternative. Having both run on the same card at Salisbury a week ago, it’s easy to get a handle on their comparative performances and while accepting that the former ran a better furlong-per-furlong number than the latter, the closing sectional times reveal a totally different story. From the path just after the intersection (roughly three out), Richard Hughes’ charge clocked an impressive 40.1 from that juncture, whereas On To Victory ran 42.7 from the same point to the line. Using these finding as a guide, it’s clear that the son of Pour Moi possess a nice change of gear as well as stamina and with the likelihood of further improvement to come over an extra two furlongs, the likeable grey colt can continue his upward trajectory. 

JUST JANICE (best price 6-1) ran out a fairly impressive winner at Clonmel last time out and with that breakthrough success achieved in a fast time, confidence is high she can follow up despite the slight rise in the ratings. Held up at the back of a competitive field, John Kiely’s mare picked off her rivals one by one as the race developed and with a nice turn of foot in between the last two hurdles, she quickly assumed command. Not only was her overall speed figure good, her final circuit time was also impressive and with the fourth-placed horse, Go Forty Go, going on to advertise the form with a blinding effort in a top-class beginners chase at Kilbeggan next time out, there’s every reason to believe she can repeated the dose.

One of the strongest form lines during the summer jumping period has been the race won by STORMEY (NAP) (best price 5-1) at Clonmel 49 days ago, so despite the handicapper raising him 9lb subsequently, that impost shouldn’t be enough to prevent the in-form seven-year-old from going in again. In what turned out to be a very strongly-run affair for the grade, the September Storm gelding stayed on extremely well in the latter stages to overpower a competitive field, and with the likes of Fiesole (a winner under both codes since), Rapid Fritz, Touch Of Gold, Magnetic Force, Theydon Park and Sharjah all going to on prove the value of the form since, it’s clear that the race in question is about as reliable as you can get for this standard at this time of year.