Andy Holding's Saturday Racing Tips

Based on the two banks races run at the festival so far this week BLUE TEMPLAR (best price 3-1) looks a far more reliable conveyance than Josies Orders and he’s taken to back up his success in the opening race of the six-day meeting.

A relative young buck in this sphere at the age of eight, Enda Bolger’s gelding finally got his just rewards for many promising performances over these bank fences by taking the Ladies Cup four days ago and with the strongest part of his game being his stamina in the latter stages, he’d be a relatively confident choice to finish ahead of stable mate Josies Orders who looked out on feet when scrambling home in third in the La Touche over four miles two days later. 

Time may tell that DOMINUS (best price 2-1) had the misfortune to bump into a very smart filly in the shape of Jubiloso at Chelmsford last time out, but with nothing remotely in that sort of class in opposition today, this appears an ideal opportunity for Brian Meehan’s colt to get off the mark. Having made the running only to get picked off by subsequent winner Oasis Prince in a decent time figure at Leicester, it was no surprise to see the son of Zoffany go forward when dropped back in trip at the Essex venue nine days ago.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t muster the sort of speed the winner produced in the latter stages, but he still kept on well enough to finish a creditable second and with today’s track likely to suit his attacking run style, the three-year-old chestnut can get the better of the short-priced favourite Qutob.

Although YOUNG PADDYMC (best price 6-1) is a little thin on the ground experience-wise for an event of this nature, he seems to have taken well enough to fences to offset that slight worry and he’s fancied to make some sort of impact off his light weight. 

A creditable runner-up to Internal Transfer on his chasing debut at Limerick, Thomas Gibney’s gelding wasted no time in breaking his duck in his new discipline when scoring in tidy fashion over today’s course a month later. Aimed at the final of the EBF series for novices last time out at Naas, the son of Stowaway only found the rejuvenated Scoir Mear too strong in the closing stages, but in pulling well clear of the rest, he posted a decent set of numbers. Lightly-raced and still open to any amount of improvement, the seven-year-old can hopefully make some sort of impact with a clear round. 

CANARDIER (NAP) (best price 9-1) has figured prominently in two of the strongest and most competitive handicap hurdles run so far this season and it would be fitting if he were to bow out for the campaign with a deserved success at a track where he’s gone well in the past.

A winner on a bumper at this meeting two weeks ago on debut, Dermot McLoughlin’s gelding has hardly run a bad race since and following several solid performances against smart company in the early stages of his hurdling career, he posted his most notable success so far to date when accounting for the useful and progressive Go Another One at Cheltenham’s opening fixture back in October. Returning to the scene of that effort at the festival itself two months ago, the son of Crillon once again ran to a very high standard when a creditable fifth in the hugely-competitive Coral Cup and considering he achieved this feat by mainly racing on the slowest part of the track around the inside, his effort deserved upgrading.

Third in a similar contest class-wise at Aintree last time out, the five-year-old once again showed he’s very much at home in a well-run, large-field handicap hurdle and with today’s drying conditions very much in his favour, it’s difficult to see him not going well if he runs somewhere near his best.