Andy Holding's Monday Racing Tips

ROCK ON SEAMIE (best price 11-2) hasn’t quite made the same impact over hurdles as he has done on the Flat up to now, but there’s a fair chance he will run a good deal better than his form figures suggest racing over a track that have witnessed some of his best performances in the past and he should be backed to do so accordingly.

A winner on his first outing at the Limerick Junction venue over a year ago, Ray Hackett’s gelding has subsequently gone on to win again on his return visit and more recently just be touched off by the improving Place Des Vogses in an amateur rider event over 1m4f. In between times, the son of Lilbourne Lad has managed to run a couple of more promising races over hurdles, including when mixing it with some pretty useful summer jumping types in a competitive 2m handicap at Kilbeggan last June. Having the likes of subsequent winners Bridge Native and Party Playboy in behind him that day, the five-year-old proved that he has the capabilities to run to a fair standard in this discipline when on his A-game and with the strong possibility that he will be invigorated by the return to his happy hunting ground, he makes plenty of appeal at his morning price. 

There’s strong possibilities Red Royalist will be tough to beat returning to this sphere off the back of three positive runs on the Flat, but at the same time, PETIT PALAIS (best price 9-2) is also likely to have a huge say in the final outcome if he can produce the sort of form he showed over today’s C&D last time and he just rates the percentage call of the pair at the morning prices.

Useful on the Flat when trained by John Gosden, the five-year-old chestnut has been a little hit-and-miss since switching to his new vocation but his latest effort here 25 days ago was much more like it and under similar conditions it’s hard to see him not going well again. Looking a major threat having travelled well to two out, the son of Champs Elysees couldn’t quite deal with the front pair having jumped the last hurdle upsides, but he did keep on willingly enough on the run-in to suggest brighter times were ahead and other than the favourite, today’s opposition doesn’t appear any stronger.

ENDERMAN (NAP) (best price 9-4) ultimately ended up being a shade disappointing to those who supported him to build on his promising debut at Beverley last time out, but as it turned out, Paul Midgley’s youngster faced an impossible task given the exploits of the winner on the clock and he looks to have been handed a decent chance by the assessor to make a bigger impact in his first crack at handicap company off what appears a very favourable mark. 

Fifth in a useful maiden at Pontefract after being slow away and stuck out on the wing, the son of Bated Breath was sent off a solid 3-1 second favourite when bagging a more favourable draw at the Yorkshire venue 13 days ago but as it turned out, he just didn’t have the qualities or pace of the main three players to take advantage. That said, his performance wasn’t as bad and as it seemed at the time considering the winner, Noorban, showed the kind of acceleration to suggest she’s a pattern-race filly in-waiting (entered in the Lowther this week at York) and the second and third have gone on to fight out the finish of a similar race back over the same C&D next time out. Based on the winner being somewhere around the 90-95 mark at the very least, and with the second and third high 80’s as an estimate, his opening mark of 59 seems very generous, and with today’s extra furlong and ease in the ground likely to play more into his strengths, he should easily be capable of justifying the long trip down from his Yorkshire base.