Andy Holding's Saturday Racing Tips

THE MICK PRESTON (best price 7-1) has yet to tackle this sort of trip, but he’s always shaped as though he may improve for it, and hailing from a yard who have had several near misses in this race in the past (One For Rosie the most notable), Nigel Twiston-Davies’ gelding is fancied to put the record straight.

Qualifying for the final on his very first attempt over hurdles at Newton Abbot back in October, the son of Shirocco has had just the two races since – which is nice to see – and on each occasion, he’s improved significantly in terms of performance levels and pure speed figures. Undone by the heavy ground and two miles at Lingfield behind the smart Annual Invictus, the five-year-old grey proved a totally different proposition when presented with a stiffer test last time out and with the pair he beat at the Midland venue both going on to frank the form since, he’s done well to come out fairly unscathed with just a small increase in his rating. A likeable type with an attitude to match his ability, The Mick Preston has all the attributes of many previous winners of this prestigious prize and he rates a strong each-way choice at the morning odds.

TADLEEL (BEST PRICE 9-2) arrives here in a rich vein of form and with a record on the Tapeta surface that reads 3111, he looks booked for another bold show despite today’s task being his toughest one to date.

Third on his only previous visit to the Dunstall Park track, Richard Fahey’s gelding has since gone on to score three times at Newcastle and given that the latest of those successes was achieved in a mindboggling time figure for the grade, confidence in him completing the hat trick rates at a fairly high level. Slightly unlucky not to win on his latest encounter over a mile, hopefully the pace will be sufficiently strong for his kick finish to come into effect and with the four or even five places on offer with some firms, strong each-way support should be rewarded in some way.

BELARGUS (NAP) (best price 7-2) posted a tremendous set of figures when skipping away with a competitive handicap here last time out and with today’s better ground step up to 2m4f also seen as huge positives, Nick Gifford’s gelding rates a standout choice on his return to the Esher venue.

It has to be said the son of Authorized has taken a little while to find his feet over fences, but following a better round of jumping when chasing home the rapid King D’Argent at Warwick back in December, he finally delivered the goods on his latest start. Getting into a lovely rhythm from the outset, the six-year-old never put a foot wrong down the Railway Fences and by the time he’d made his way to the last, he was in total control. Sauntering clear on the run-in, he had yesterday’s easy winner Grey Diamond trailing in his wake and with the time figure from that race 23 days ago also extremely favourable, it’s just a question of whether he can run to a similar standard over today’s extra half a mile – which he has attempted to a fair degree of success in the past

Horses, along with their trainers, are creatures of habit and having won this race last year, HOLLYWOODIEN (best price 15-4) looks to have been teed up nicely again by his local handler for a repeat bid.

Promising on his first start of the campaign behind Ibleo at Sandown, connections of the 10-year-old grey felt as though he needed some remedial work to correct his wind and for a good portion of his latest encounter at Wetherby, it looked like that decision might pay off. Impressing with the way he travelled, the son of Martaline didn’t quite get home as well as expected but as is sometimes the case with horse who has suffered with difficulties breathing in the past, it often takes a run or two for them to trust the new mechanics post-surgery. In any case, it was certainly a better effort than the one he achieved prior to coming to this race last year and with his yard still showing no signs of slowing down their impressive strike rate, Tom Symonds’ gelding can go well at a track that clearly suits.