Andy Holding's Friday Racing Tips

Connections of PROTEK DES FLOS (NAP) (best price 13-8) clearly had a big decision to make after their charge flopped on his chasing debut back in November and on the evidence of his subsequent victory at Wincanton in one of the Pertemps Qualifiers, those closely associated with the horse deserve a huge pat on their backs for choosing the right option. In a race won at a sound gallop courtesy of Boite towing the field along at a brisk pace, the speed figure posted for a race of that nature was particularly good and with the runner-up going on to advertise the form in spectacular fashion last weekend, Nicky Henderson’s inmate clearly ran up to a pretty high standard. Given the bruising nature of the encounter at the West Country venue and the way he stayed on in the closing stages, it’s not an unreasonable theory put forward to suggest that the Protecktor gelding requires a proper test to be seen at his best and with only five weeks away from the Cheltenham Festival, connections need to find out whether the six-year-old stays the trip well (first attempt beyond 3m) enough to become a viable contender for the final of this series or is kept to 2m 5f for something like the Coral Cup.

Despite being a relatively short-priced favourite here last week, the coffin box 14 draw was always likely to count against SILK CRAVAT (best price 3-1) in the concluding 6f handicap and although that’s how it transpired, Ger Lyons’ inmate certainly ran well enough to be of significant interest a week on now he has a much more favourable stall position. Using up plenty of petrol to maintain an early position, the five-year-old paid for those exertions at the business end, but given the time figure of the race was by some way the best furlong-per-furlong performance on the eight-race card, he clearly ran extremely well in the face of adversity. Although it’s been a while since he’s raced over the minimum trip, the Kyllachy gelding has shown enough boot in his recent races to suggest he has the tools to cope with a well-run 5f event and with Geological and Oneoveryou likely to ensure there’ll be no hiding place, the chestnut is fancied to pick the front runners off late on.

NIGG BAY (best price 5-1) has done more than enough in his two starts for new connections to suggest a race of this nature is well within his compass and with an extra furlong to race over tonight also seen as a major positive, Johnny Levin’s inmate rates a solid-looking each-way bet around the 5-1 mark. Shaping well in a 6f maiden on his first outing since switching from John Oxx, the four-year-old caught the eye with the way he finished off his race here 65 days ago over the same C&D, and with most of his main rivals either running over the wrong trip or badly drawn, this fairly promising type can seize the opportunity to shed his maiden tag.

FASTIDIOUS (best price 7-2) finished with plenty of running still left in the tank on his latest outing and having also dropped to a mark which now makes him extremely dangerous, Michael O’Callaghan’s charge rates a decent bet in this concluding handicap. Held up out the back door in the early exchanges 14 days ago, the son of Exceed And Excel was just beginning to make what appeared to be a significant move approaching the two furlong pole when he found his path blocked at a crucial stage and although he made a reasonable attempt at trying to recover his composure late on, the damage was already done. Given the way he travelled through the race, however, suggests the nine-year-old is full of beans at the present moment in time, and he’s taken to put that theory to the test against a field of largely underwhelming opponents.