Andy Holding's Sunday Racing Tips

ORIN SWIFT (NAP) (best price 4-1) is doing his level best to hold his current good run of form together despite the handicap trying to put the boot in and he rates the most solid proposition in this two-mile affair.

Yet to finish out of the first two since racing beyond 1m4f, Johnathon Portman’s gelding arrives here off the back of yet another quality performance and even though he ended up having to play second fiddle to the useful National Hunt star Agrapart at Ascot, there was certainly no disgrace in pushing a well-handicapped horse all the way on ground that very much favoured the winner. Prior to that effort, the son of Dragon Pulse has scored in tidy fashion with plenty of ease underfoot at Nottingham and having also run well on his only previous visit to today’s track last year, it’s easy to envisage the five-year-old in the thick of the action once again.

SIR BUSKER (best price 5-1) looked as though he was hanging the latch slightly at Ascot last time out so you can see why connections have reached for the visor for the first time, and he’s worth a small interest to see whether the headgear has the desired effect. 

Fairly useful at two, a victory at Newbury suggested he was going on the right path, but a couple of setbacks towards the back end of the season rather ended the campaign on a negative note. Gelded in the interim period, William Knight’s inmate showed promise on his seasonal return at Lingfield and so he headed to the Berkshire venue 30 days ago full of hope that he could return to winning ways. Having gone well to hold every chance at halfway, the son of Sir Prancealot could only find the one pace over the six-furlong trip, but at the same time he certainly did enough to suggest he’s by no means a lost cause. Back up in trip on his favoured soft ground with the booking of Oisin Murphy seen as a massive positive, the four-year-old drops to a level where he really ought to be going close if he consents to put his best foot forward.