Andy Holding's Monday Racing Tips

Coillte Eile remains an interesting contender hailing from a stable in cracking form at present, but at the same time, she faces no easy task up against course specialist JUSTATENNER (best price 7-2), who arrives here off the back of a cracking effort in a much better race than this on Saturday.

Since switching to new connections, Tristan Davidson’s gelding has form figures at the Cumbrian track that read 1212 and it would come as little surprise to see those stats stay intact under his ideal conditions this afternoon. Best when given exaggerated waiting tactics, the son of Northern Light was ridden in his usual fashion in an ultra-competitive contest on his latest visit and although he couldn’t quite cope with the useful Mr Clarkson in the closing stages, he kept on willingly all the way to the line to finish well clear of the rest. A regular in Class 2 and 3 company in recent times, today’s Class 4 contest represents a significant ease in grade and as we’ve seen time and time again, horses that run well on day one of a festival, often come back several days later and improve upon their first performance due to their superior course knowledge and fitness edge.

IMPERIAL EAGLE (best price 66-1) shaped better than the bare form suggests on his debut at Thirsk last month and even though she faces several potentially useful juveniles from powerful yards, she’s worth a small each-way interest to see whether she can improve on that initial outing.

Slowly away at the Yorkshire venue, the daughter of Free Eagle impressed by the way she made up the lost leeway to race prominently at halfway and although she eventually faded in the latter stages after looking a threat two out, she showed more than enough to build on for the future. Whether she’s good enough to cut much ice against tonight’s opponents hailing from a stable not renowned for its juvenile prowess is obviously open to debate, but either way, she’s been chalked up at the sort of price that it won’t take too much out of the wallet to find out.

Ballinrobe is often a haven for strong front runners and having run out an emphatic winner when adopting more positive tactics at Killarney last week, TURNBERRY ISLE (NAP) (best price 5-4) rates a strong choice to repeat the dose. Held up in all his previous starts this term, Aidan O’Brien’s colt had failed to recapture the sort of form and promise he displayed as a two-year-old, but sent to the front from an early stage at the Co Kerry venue five days ago, he looked a totally different horse. Setting strong fractions, the son of Galileo totally ripped his field apart and in maintaining a powerful gallop all the way to the line, he ended up clocking a very fast speed figure. Although posted out in stall 8 here this evening, hopefully a good break and a sweeping manoeuvre around the outside will see the improving three-year-old hit the first bend in front, and if so, it will take a decent horse to peg him back on the evidence of what we saw last time.

THE LADY’S BID (best price 15-2) hadn’t offered too much in the way of promise on her four previous racecourse visits, but it was a totally different story at Navan last week and providing that performance wasn’t a total flash in the pan, there’s a decent chance she can take high rank in a race of this nature. Last and way off the pace as the field turned for home at the Co Meath venue, the daughter of Famous Name all of a sudden picked up the bridle and decided to race for the first time in her career and in flashing home to finish a never-nearer fourth, she left the impression she has a fair engine under her bonnet when applying her mind to the job at hand. On the evidence of that display, she appeared like she may improve further for an even stiffer examination and despite there being a slight danger that a tardy start from stall one might put her in an uncompromising position pinned down on the rail around tonight’s sharp track, her morning price is big enough to offset that potential risk.