Andy Holding's Thursday Racing Tips

For so long LAS TUNAS (NAP) (best price 13-8) was considered as a proper bridle horse who was at his best when producing one run off a strong pace, but now he’s shown that he’s just as effective being allowing to stride on, the new tactics he employed at the last meeting here can produce a similar result. 

An easy winner at Ayr back in January, another two solid placed efforts followed but he seemed to take his game to different level with his C&D success 13 days ago. Having his first outing at the Yorkshire venue, Mike Smith’s gelding picked up the running going out onto the final circuit – which was virgin territory at the time – and from that point onwards he looked in total control. Pinging all four fences down the home straight the seven-year-old maintained the strong gallop all the way to the line and even though one of today’s main opponents, Oliver’s Gold, did his level best to try and reduce the deficit late on, it could only be considered a minor threat.

How they decide to ride the son of Country Reel on his return to the scene of that easy victory will be fascinating to see but providing connections have a similar game plan up their sleeve, it will be disappointing if he fails to repeat the dose if in a similar mood.

An intriguing affair with U S S Missouri adding an extra touch of spice to proceedings but at the morning process slight preference is for FANAAR (best price 9-2) who impressed with his comeback effort at Lingfield 40 days ago. 

Having his first outing since a gelding operation, William Haggas’s three-year-old just took a while to find his stride at the Surrey venue, but once engaging top gear at the business end of the race, he really picked up in tidy fashion. Running the last two furlongs in a sparkling 21.6, the son of Dark Angel ran able to run down the useful Deep Intrigue to score with a degree of comfort and even thought today’s opposition suggests he requires another step forward, there’s every chance he’ll prove equal to the task. 

BORDER VICTOR (best price 5-1) simply loves it at the Yorkshire venue and his fine career record here looks set to be enhanced based on his performance levels 23 days ago. Having travelled well throughout the three-mile journey, Barry Murtagh’s gelding picked up the running on the approach to three out and despite being a little scruffy over the last two flights, he always looked in control.

Although that victory was achieved on soft ground, the son of Beat All has got plenty of form on a quicker surface on his CV and with figures at today’s venue that now read 221 since a wind-op in January 2018, he rates a strong each-way choice at the morning prices.