Andy Holding's Thursday Racing Tips

The bumper won by The Glancing Queen should turn out to be a solid piece of form going forward and having both run well to finish within a respectable distance behind the useful winner, DANSE IDOL (best price 2-1) and Cedar Valley should take high rank if they can translate that level of performance to hurdles at the first time of asking. 

The former of the two, however, shapes like she’s more of a stayer and given that was also her first outing of the season at Prestbury Park, she should come on a good deal from that initial effort. Unwittingly asked to race around the un-favoured inside part of the track 19 days ago, the daughter of Dansant lacked a gear change as the field rushed downhill to the home turn, but once straightening up for the long climb up the hill, she picked up nicely to stay on to finish a creditable sixth (a nose behind Cedar Valley).

Good enough to shake up subsequent Champion Bumper winner, Relegate, on heavy ground at Punchestown last season, the five-year-old mare should appreciate today’s stiffer test and she rates a decent bet at the morning odds to turn the tables on her old rival, who, at the same time, should also give a good account.

Just as a captain moves one of his fielders in haste to cow corner after his main bowler has just been hit for two sixes over deep long-on in a bid to cut off the run flow, potentially the worst thing to do in betting terms is to back a horse after he’s just bolted up twice and then try and jump on him the third time, but in the case of SOME CHAOS (NAP) (best price 3-1), he’s scored with so much in hand, he might have enough left in the tank in his bid to complete the hat trick.

Well-backed to make a winning start over fences at Bangor, Michael Scudamore’s gelding always looked in control when making all the running to score in comfortable fashion and he duly followed up that victory with another performance of some merit at Market Rasen last time out.

Although he wasn’t allowed to dominate in the way he’d done at the Welsh venue, the son of Brian Boru was equally happy sitting on the shoulder of the well-backed The Two Amigos and in staying on strongest of the pair from three out, he once again proved he had stamina in abundance. As both successes have yielded big speed figures for the grade, the inevitable rise in the ratings still might not be enough to keep up with the rapidly-improving seven-year-old and even though he lacks the experience over fences in comparison to some of his main market rivals, his natural effervescence and general wellbeing offset that slight negative.  

To say that SPYGLASS HILL (best price 7-1) got a sympathetic ride from Andrew Lynch here last time out is the understatement of all time, and the son of Morozov is fancied to his show true worth this time around. Very much the second string of the Henry De Bromhead team 21 days ago according to the betting, it was obvious from an early stage that the five-year-old was being ridden as if he was taking part in a Grand Prix race where the driver of the perceived slower car rides to team orders (stable had the 4-6 favourite Network) and being over 30 lengths behind at the halfway stage, he certainly had little or no chance of winning (a disgrace really considering he was only an 11-2 poke).

Making up a good deal of ground in the latter stages, however, he did exhibit quite a bit of promise once given his head and in running the fastest circuit of any horse over hurdles that afternoon to the tune of two seconds, his ability was plain for all to see. Hopefully, this afternoon he will be given a more justifiable ride on his return to the Co Tipperary venue and if so, this promising gelding should be capable of putting up a bold show. 

Dropping back in trip is a little bit of a concern regards GREATEST JOURNEY’s (best price 3-1) chances, but it’s not as if Michael Appleby’s inmate hasn’t good smart form over a mile, so he’s given a strong vote confidence to back up his recent Wolverhampton success.

A proper all-weather specialist, the son of Raven’s Pass clocked a very smart time at the Dunstall Park venue last time out and that was a far cry from his disappointing effort the time before over tonight’s C&D. That said, he was forced to race wide and give away vital ground early on that eventually led to his downfall and he’s better judged on his previous display at the Essex venue when a solid runner-up to Zwayyan in a well-run affair. Hopefully, Glory Awaits will tow the field along at a decent clip here tonight, and if so, the six-year-old can power home to victory in the latter stages.