Andy Holding's Thursday Racing Tips

The race won by Wichita at the Curragh last month was probably an above-average maiden and even though BLIGH (best price 5-1) failed to land any discernible blow towards the main players, he did more than enough to offer plenty of promise for the future.

Held up towards the rear of the pack at the Co Kildare venue, Joseph O’Brien’s colt only had one behind him as the field swept passed the intersection just over three out, but from that point onwards, he showed plenty of positive signals for the future. Quickening past a good half a dozen rivals inside a short space of time despite running green, the son of Camelot strongly intimated he would be a totally different proposition next time out and with that opening performance and pedigree suggesting he will be an even stronger force given an even sterner test, today’s conditions should play into his strengths.

CHIL CHIL (best price 6-1) couldn’t quite convert what appeared a decent opportunity at Kempton last time out, but she was up against a horse in the shape of Revolutionise who showed a huge turn of foot late on, and now back on the turf, Andrew Balding’s filly is given another chance to prove she still remains on the upward curve.

Impressive at the same track a month previously, the daughter of Exceed And Excel showed an even smarter turn to foot when clocking a fast time at Windsor a few days later, so it was understandable why connections were keen to strike while the iron was hot despite the quick turnover. Clearly that bold policy came unstuck, but now she’s had the pause that refreshes, there’s every chance that she can prove she belongs in this sort of company.

CHOCOLAT NOIR (best price 11-4) proved no match for Court Baloo at Hexham last time out, but it was hardly surprising given the numbers the winner knocked out for the grade, and with today’s contest likely to prove a shade more palatable, Martin Todhunter’s mare can get back on the winning trail.

Having scored in tidy fashion at Cartmel previously, it was no surprise to find the daughter of Yeats a warm order to follow up carrying just a mandatory penalty but the combination of the very strong pace and faster ground just caught her out and she had to settle for an honourable second. However, even though she got beaten 15 lengths by the revitalised winner, the six-year-old mare still managed to run the last circuit quicker than the 123-rated Desert Point, who took the 2m handicap hurdle on the same card and with today’s easier underfoot conditions much more in her favour, career victory number three isn’t out of the question.

QUEEN OF KALAHARI (NAP) (best price 7/4) hit the ball out of the park on the figures when bolting up over tonight’s C&D last week and providing she’s in the same sort of form on her return visit, it’s hard to envisage her not following up with a clean break.

Having not quite seen out the trip over seven-furlongs on her two previous starts, including one at tonight’s track, connections were keen to play their trump card in dropping the filly to her optimum distance seven days ago. Breaking well from the outside peg, the daughter of Lethal Force showing enough all-round pace to assume command after two furlongs and once establishing a healthy buffer, she continued to stretch her advantage all the way to the line. Moreover, her time figure was the quickest on the card by quite some way and when you consider she went into that contest only rated 48, it was some performance by this in-form filly. Reassuringly, that was her second smart effort over the C&D – her other when finishing second here back in May – and with the seventh horse home, Grimsdyke, going on to endorse the form with a smooth victory at Redcar yesterday, confidence is high that the four-year-old can follow suit from her much more favourable draw this time around.