Andy Holding's Thursday Horse Racing Tips

CANELO (NAP) (best price 2-1) had to be deemed slightly unlucky to bump into a horse who was knocking out some serious fractions for a staying novice at Wincanton last time out, so while it would appear to the casual observer that he might becoming a bit of a bookies benefit horse, the facts suggest he still remains on the upgrade. Runner-up to a useful type on his rules debut at Chepstow, Alan King’s inmate was understandably a warm order to go one place better at the West Country venue and despite travelling like he was going to oblige for large proportions of the journey, he eventually succumbed his old rival in the latter stages.

That said, he did pull well clear of the rest and when you consider the winner ran the fastest overall and circuit time on the card by some way, the son of Mahler, in only getting beat five lengths, still came out of the race with great credit. Although he handles soft ground well enough, he gives the impression that ground similar to today’s might be more beneficial and he rates a decent each-way proposition at the morning prices.

MOLINEAUX (best price 11-2) has yet to win in eight starts, but there doesn’t appear to be anything wrong with his attitude and today’s contest provides him with his best chance of late to finally get off the mark. A decent second to Brown Bear in a competitive heat at Ascot two starts ago, Colin Tizzard’s gelding backed that up with an even better effort next time out on his return visit to the Berkshire venue and with the overall quality of speed figure of that race suggesting he’d run to a career-high level, the six-year-old brings a really solid-looking profile to the table. 

MUTAWATHEA (best price 13-2) has yet to race over tonight’s course, but he has plenty of all-weather experience so hopefully he should be fine and if so, he looks to have a decent chance of making his presence felt in what appears a wide-open affair. Although he hasn’t won for a little while now, Simon Crisford’s charge has produced some sterling efforts in defeat and you don’t have to go back too far to note his performances against top-quality handicappers were of a very high standard (runner-up in the JCB Handicap behind Viscount Barfield at York the clear pick).

Moreover, his latest display at Lingfield reads a good deal better than it does on paper as he got no run whatsoever from the two-furlong pole having travelled well throughout and even though he’s up against plenty of useful sorts here this evening, at the same time he by no means looks out of place.