Andy Holding's Sunday Racing Tips

SCARLET AND DOVE (NAP) (best price 7-2) lacks the experience of some other mares’ in this sphere, but she has the potential to do well at a better level based on her progressive profile and numbers she posted at Navan last time out, so she’s worth a risk back at a track where she’s already enjoyed a fair bit of success.

Making her debut in a bumper at the Greenmount Park venue, the daughter of Jeremy was sent off a well-backed second favourite and having gone through the early part of the race sweetly, she found a nice change of gear in the latter stages to win going away. Once again strong in the betting on her hurdling bow a month later, something was clearly amiss because she hung badly right in the home straight and she was eventually eased down to finish a distant fifth to the very useful Colreevy. Sent on a recovery mission to the Co Meath track last time out, the six-year-old mare never gave her legion of supporters too many worries as she was always travelling better than her 21 rivals and it was nice to see her pull clear in the closing stages, thus banishing the memories of that poor display three months earlier. Moreover, her overall time figure and final circuit sectionals indicated she’d run to affair standard and it comes as no surprise to see connections significantly raise her sights. Whether she proves equally effective over today’s longer trip only time will tell, but she shapes like it shouldn’t be an issue and this classy-looking mare will hopefully be good enough to do herself justice.

LE ROCHER (best price 3-1) has been a fairly consistent performer over the years and he did more than enough last time out to suggest the fire still burns bright enough for him to have a future in these veteran races.

A game runner-up to the useful Gala Ball on his first start for 335 days at Wincanton back in January, Nick Williams’ gelding went to Sandown a month later for his most recent outing and in what turned out to be a competitive and strongly-run affair, he came out of the contest with great credit. Although the son of Saint Des Saints couldn’t quite go with the spritelier legs of Deise Aba and Cloudy Glen in the closing stages, he did keep on well after the last and up the hill to pull clear of the rest and with the winner going on to run a blinder in the Kim Muir at Cheltenham this week (finished fifth), the form doesn’t look too shabby. A real heavy ground specialist, as form figures of 171117113322 under such conditions testify, the 10-year-old is one of the younger members of today’s field and should be capable of more than holding his own.