Andy Holding's Tuesday Racing Tips

ROMAN DE SENAM (NAP) (best price 11-4) has dined at the top table for much of his chasing career and that touch if class he has may just be enough to allow him to carry top weight to victory in this quality handicap chase for the time of year.

Although he’s run well in some hard-knocking handicaps during the winter, Paul Nicholls’ gelding has always left the impression he’d sooner be plying his trade in small field during the summer months and that theory was borne out over today’s C&D last time out. Despite plenty of heavy rain which concerned connections in the build up to the race, the son of Saint Des Saints brushed those worries to one side with a display of total authority. The way he jumped and travelled before recording a very easy success suggests he’s right on top of his game at present and with the services of the up-and-coming talent of Bryan Carver in the plate, the seven-year-old’s reliability factor might just be the key in the final analysis.

FOXES FLYER (best price 25-1) hasn’t the backing of a powerful stable, but that hasn’t stopped him running to a decent level in three starts and now teed up for his first handicap off a fair mark of 70 based on what he’s been taking on, the lightly-raced three-year-old is fancied to at least hold his own at this sort of level.

Promising on debut over seven-furlongs on the all-weather on debut, Luke Mcjannet’s gelding was sent back to the same C&D for his next outing and in running well behind the very useful filly, Hotsy Totsy (third in the Sandringham Handicap at Royal Ascot), he indicated that he has enough ability to land a small race somewhere down the line. In deep again for his latest out, the son of Foxwedge kept on well enough to finish fourth behind another Royal Ascot refugee in the shape of Maamora and with nothing remotely of that calibre up against him here this evening, there’s every hope that he will outstrip his large early morning odds.

The other who could easily improve now racing in much calmer waters is COOL POSSIBILITY (best price 9-1) and he’s also worth adding to the shopping list. No match for above-average pair Franz Kafka and Current Option (won since) at Brighton two starts ago, Charlie Hills’ gelding has little chance of being competitive against a high-quality bunch of three-year-olds at Leicester last time out. He did, however, keep on nicely enough towards the finish to suggest a small race may come his way and off a mark that couldn’t be considered too harsh, it would be slightly disappointing if he couldn’t muster up a competitive performance.