Andy Holding's Wednesday Racing Tips

OSCAR ROSE (best price 7-2) missed an engagement at Sedgefield due to unsuitably fast ground, but hopefully there shouldn’t be any issues today with a little rain around and she’s fancied to take advantage of what appears a fair enough mark for just her second outing over fences.

A useful 122 hurdler at her best, Fergal O’Brien’s mare managed to score three times in 28 races under that discipline and although that record suggests she’s anything but prolific, she didn’t often run too many bad races in that sequence. Following a pipe-opener in a useful handicap at Southwell to begin her campaign, connections decided to bite the bullet and send her over the larger obstacles at Stratford to what she could achieve and although she ended up being no match for easy winner, Leoncavello, the numbers from that race at the Midland venue strongly indicated she had run up to a fair level on her chase debut. Jumping well in the main, she did pull nicely clear of subsequent winner Yccs Portocervo, and with that solid grounding likely to have taught her plenty now running against more experienced handicappers, this likeable eight-year-old looks set to take high rank.

Luke Comer has been encouragingly popping up with odd winner here and there this season, most notably the 300-1 record-breaker at Leopardstown recently and in the shape of BRING US PARADISE (best price 8-1), the Co Meath handler could add another one to his tally.

No shorter than 28-1 on three starts so far this term, the son of Zoffany has actually run a good deal better than his odds have implied on at least two of those outings, most notably at Navan last time out. Noted going well enough turning for home, the four-year-old kept on nicely in the latter stages to finish just on the coat tails of the main players and considering the time figure of the race was very good for the grade, he clearly ran a good deal better than expectations. Despite the competitive natural of today’s field, it’s one that does appear a little weaker on paper than the one he contested at the Co Kildare venue and with trip and ground unlikely to be an issue based on his effort 10 days ago, it would be slightly disappointing if he couldn’t make some sort of impact off a sliding handicap mark.

NIBBLERS CHARM (NAP) (best price 2-1) arrives here in rattling good form courtesy of a big win at the Galway Festival and with his previous Flat displays not too shabby either, he rates the best bet on the card to keep up his good recent work.

A dual winner over hurdles last season, the son of Court Cave was brought back to action in order to get him somewhere close to fever-pitch at Ballybrit and with those two runs on the level resulting in two excellent efforts in good quality maidens, everything was set fair for him to run to maximum capacity. As it turned out, the seven-year-old did all that was asked of him and more 33 days ago by running out a comfortable winner of a hugely-competitive two-mile handicap and with the time figure extremely good and the form boosted by the likes of Poseidon, Décor Irlandais, Goodbye Sunday and Ardamir subsequently, he thoroughly deserved his 12lb rating adjustment. Although he now has a similar mark to one of today’s main threats, Rasiym, there’s absolutely no doubt who has the better progression and credentials of the pair and with the overnight rain likely to make this a decent test at the trip, his stamina should prove to be the decisive factor.