Andy Holding's Monday Racing Tips

CHAMPAGNE COURT (best price 9-4) has been plying his trade at a higher level than the one he faces today, and he’s fancied to take advantage of these slightly calmer waters.

Fourth in a hot bumper at Cheltenham on his seasonal reappearance, Jeremy Scott’s gelding was well backed to make a winning start to his life over hurdles at Lingfield next time out and after travelling well throughout, he duly landed the gamble (8-1 into 10-3). Pitched into the Grade 2 Kennel Gate Novices’ Hurdle for his next outing, the son of Court Cave came up just short of the mark after a bad mistake at the last down the back straight, and the same comments applied to his latest exploits at Warwick when once again he was found wanting in the latter stage after looking threatening turning for home.

Although in an ideal world he could do with slightly better ground, at least he gets a chance to operate on an unpoached surface being the first race on the card, and despite the presence of the potentially useful recruit Vis A Vis and the solid galloper Hill Sixteen in opposition, he’s expected to come through with flying colours. 

It's unlikely that anything will be good enough to beat Smiths Cross if he’s fit enough to do himself justice after a layoff, so the safest solution might be to look towards KARAKORAM (best price 5-1) as an alternative in the ‘without the favourite’ market. Sent off at 100-1 for his latest start after only showing modest ability on two previous outings, Grace Harris’ gelding totally defied his market weakness by finishing a creditable third behind two above-average sorts at Ffos Las a month ago.

Held up towards the rear, the son of Excelebration made up a good deal of ground during the middle part of the race to race handy and hold every chance turning for home and although he couldn’t quite match the front pair in the closing stages, he impressed with the way he stuck stoically to the task. Numbers-wise, the speed figure of the race in question suggested it was a useful race of its kind and although today’s track is totally different in terms of undulations, at least the four-year-old has proven he can slog it out on rain-affected conditions. 

LOSSIEMOUTH (NAP) (best price 11-4) hasn’t run since successful at Newcastle back in December, but with his yard coming back out of the mini-break with the likes of Dorking Cock and Jester Jet scoring, confidence is increased that the son of Makfi can add another win to his handler’s tally.

In the process of running a big race on his debut at Huntingdon until veering away from the whip and unseating rider two out, Tom Lacey’s gelding proved much more tractable at the Gosforth Park venue last time out. Held up towards the rear, the four-year-old made steady headway approaching the wings of two out and in staying on strongest of all in the final quarter mile, he powered his way up the hill in the testing conditions to score with a bit up his sleeve.

Moreover, his winning overall time figure and final mile sectionals suggested it was a pretty smart effort by this embryonic chaser and with the emphasis likely to be on stamina come the last race on the card, this big, scopey type has all the physical attributes and in-built pace to cope better than most.