Andy Holding's Friday Racing Tips

SISTER SIBYL (best price 3-1) was well backed to make a winning chasing debut at Warwick 23 days ago and although she just came up a little short, she still did more than enough to justify the money in her direction and send out positive vibes for the future. In a race run at a sound tempo throughout at the Midland track (final circuit only a second slower than Sceaux Royal’s novice chase win), Hughie Morrison’s mare jumped nicely for majority of the journey, but in the end, she just couldn’t quite get on terms with the front-running Sparkling River, who just kept on pounding out the fractions under an aggressive ride. Likely to be a good deal sharper this afternoon, conditions look ideal for her to build on that initial effort and put up another bold show.

Whatever Simon Claisse says about the ground, rest assured it’ll a good deal worse than advertised (often gets quite testing when there’s been snow and frost around), but that shouldn’t bother WESTERN RYDER (NAP) (best price 5-2) too much as he’s proven in the past that he’s very much at home on a slow surface. A top class bumper horse from last season, Warren Greatrex’s inmate began his hurdling career in pretty inauspicious circumstances when he got rid of his pilot at an early stage at Stratford back in November, but he soon made up for that disappointment with a convincing display in every department at Chepstow last time out.

In a race run at a sound tempo throughout, the five-year-old stayed on strongest of all in the latter stages and in posting a significantly faster set of figures than the other division of the 2m maiden hurdle on the same card, he certainly deserves to have a crack at this much more substantial contest in terms of quality.

CLONDAW KAEMPFER (best price 6-1) has rather a patchy profile over the last few seasons, but he’s shown on several occasions that he’s still a quality operator on his day and if he can run to the same levels that he did at Bangor last time out, there’s a decent chance he can roll back the years. Looking as though the run would do him good on his first outing of the season, the nine-year-old backed up that view with an altogether more convincing display at the Welsh venue next time and with the time figure of the race won by Dashing Oscar very smart – backed up by the likes of Midnight Tour and Bobo Mac subsequently – he can strike another blow for his in-form handler.

WOTZIZNAME (best price 11-4) was a fair hurdler, but on the evidence of what we’ve seen so far, he could turn out to be a better chaser and that theory is put under the microscope on his fourth outing over the larger obstacles. Although he’s taken a little while to find his stride over fences, his latest performance at Exeter suggests he’s making progress at a rapid rate of knots and with stamina seemingly his number one asset, today’s test should provide him with the perfect platform to show off his skills. 

CHICAGO SCHOOL (best price 20-1) was a bit disappointing when last seen over tonight’s C&D this time last year, but he’s improved significantly enough in the interim to warrant him being a possible contender at big odds in what looks a wide-open affair. Since being employed with the tongue-tie/visor combination, Anthony McCann’s charge has posted several noteworthy performances and although they’ve all taken place over 6f, his price is of sufficient clout that he’s worth taking a punt he’s as effective back over the minimum trip.

Indeed, his time figures when scoring here two starts ago suggest he’s got a decent amount of boot when required and having also run better than the form book indicates last time out from the coffin box outside draw, the Approve gelding could prove to be more than a dangerous floater around the 20-1 mark. 

ASIAN WING (best price 4-1) was more than a shade unlucky to bump into the rapidly-improving and well-handicapped Tropic Thunder last time out, but with nothing of that calibre in his way here this evening, the way looks clear for the eight-year-old to post another C&D win. Although he moved really well throughout what turned out to be a strongly-run affair for the grade 14 days ago, John Feane’s inmate in the end proved no match for the eventual winner, but with big distances back to the rest and an overall time and sectionals better than the massively-improved Clear Skies (now rated 98), who took the 1m 4f handicap on the same card, it’s clear that the front two home were operating at a level way beyond their current ratings.