Andy Holding's Wednesday Racing Tips

Like so many juveniles before him, GUMDROP (best price 4-1) found the necessary improvement to score on handicap debut at Chester and now established in this particular lane, Richard Fahey’s colt can continue on his merry way up the ladder. 

Promising in his two previous outings, the son of Toronado was handed what appeared a fair starting point for his new discipline with a mark of 75 and after travelling nicely in behind a hot pace on the Roodee, he stayed on strongly to win by a comfortable three lengths. As predicted given the unrelenting gallop generated that evening, the overall time figure ended up being extremely god for the grade and with today’s contest likely to be run at a similar tempo here this afternoon, this likeable two-year-old should be ready for pretty much anything this field can throw at him. 

Jockey bookings suggest Bon Retour is the one to be with of the pair from the Willie Mullins camp, but GETAWAY GORGEOUS (best price 2-1) seems to have the better form in the eyes of this writer and at the morning odds, she’s worth a small interest to gain the Closutton bragging rights. 

Yet to finish out of the first two in eight starts, the daughter of Getaway maintained her incredibly consistent figures when chasing home the above-average The Very Man at Galway last time out and with the speed figure good and the third winning since, the form looks extremely reliable. Prior to that smart effort, the six-year-old had made the useful Barrington Court pull out all the stops over today’s C&D and it was good to see her gain her due rewards at Wexford next time when lowering the colours of the ultra-consistent My Midnight. 

WILLIAM OF WYKEHAM (best price 9-4) was unlucky to bump into the useful Décor Irlandais at Killarney last time out, but his performance went some way to suggest he continues to progress in the right direction and he’s fancied to get back to winnings ways over a course that threatens to suit his run style. Hugely impressive when scoring with any amount in hand at Ballinrobe back in July, Mark McNiff’s gelding went on to prove there was no fluke about that victory with another easy success at Roscommon a few weeks later.

Upped significantly in grade for his latest encounter, the son of Arcano just got done for a little bit of tactical speed when his main market rivals swept by him rounding the home turn, and although he tried his level best to claw back some of the lost leeway in the closing stages, he couldn’t quite get back on terms with a horse who had been previously competing at a higher level. That said, the pair pulled well clear of the rest in a useful speed figure and with today’s galloping right-handed track on yielding ground likely to prove ideal, the five-year-old chestnut has everything seemingly in his favour.

It’s hard to believe that any racecourse in Ireland has ‘good’ in their going description at the moment given all the rain around, but that looks likely to be the case at the Mallow venue and it should mean AZTEC PARADE (best price 15-2) gets his first real chance to show what he can do against today’s sort of opposition. 

Yet to race at this sort of level and rated a few pounds below some of his more vaunted rivals here today, Johnny Murtagh’s gelding has always left the impression he could easily slot nicely into pattern company given some of his efforts both visually and on the clock. Although his winning performance at 1-6 at Leopardstown two starts ago was routine enough on paper, the numbers he posted at the Dublin venue strongly suggested he was just marking time before he stepped into the breech and we kind of got some sort of insight into where he might stand at a higher level with his latest effort at Tipperary. Despite being beaten fair and square on the day by Real Force, the son of Anjaal just wasn’t the same horse in the gluepot conditions 33 days ago and he ended up having to play second fiddle to an opponent of considerable ability in his own right. A lovely-looking individual with a beautiful flowing stride, this imposing three-year-old finally has his favoured good ground in place and with a well-run seven-furlongs t5hreatening to be his optimum also, it would be shade disappointing if he didn’t have some sort of say in the final outcome.

If, as anticipated, Aztec Parade does acquit himself with credit, his old rival REAL FORCE (best price 7-1) should be there or thereabouts and he too, has to be of some sort of interest in a race of this nature. In an ideal world he could probably do with a little more ease in the ground, but the way he travelled and quickened at the Limerick Junction venue last time indicates a three-year-old right on top of his game at present and it’s not as if he hasn’t got any good ground form in the book either. Indeed, his run prior to his victory last time, his effort when runner-up to Keats at Killarney suggested he’s moving through the ranks at a fair rate and if he ends up being on the right side of the draw in stall 10, Gerard O’Leary’s stable star could easily prove equal to the task.