Andy Holding's Tuesday Racing Tips

It’s fair to say Sue Smith hasn’t had a very productive season numerically, but there has been significant sign of improvement in recent times – none more so with her Cheltenham Festival winner – and BURROWS DIAMOND (best price 9-4) could provide the Yorkshire handler with her fourth winner in the last two weeks.

Yet to win in seven starts, the daughter of Diamond Boy showed more than her fair share of promise in the early part of the campaign and after a bit of a re-group during a mid-season pause, she has come back to suggest she’s not far off making a breakthrough. Running over today’s C&D in February, the six-year-old was in the process of putting in her career-best effort when she tipped up when a length behind eventual wide-margin winner, Fosters’Island, and she has since dusted herself down to go on and run another solid race in a well-run affair at Carlisle. Looking back at that race at the Gosforth Park venue a month ago, the winner has gone on to run well at a higher level next time and the third horse home, beaten 20 lengths, went on to score at Hexham subsequent, so the form is pretty watertight. Although she has raced on predominantly soft ground during her short career, she did run well on a much quicker terrain behind multiple winner, Stoner’s Choice, at Carlisle back in October and in a race where there appears to be no obvious pace, she might be just as well to dictate matters on her own terms in her bid to finally get off the mark.

Having run really well in the tongue-tie/cheekpiece combination on his last two starts (last win came when they were in operation), it seems an odd move by connections of MAKAMBE (best price 13-2) to remove one part of those aids, but either way, Chelsea Banham’s grey still looks to have a decent chance in a race of this nature based on pure form.

No match for the rapidly-improving Khatm (now rated 79) at Southwell earlier in the month, the son of Dark Angel was sent to the Dunstall Park venue just over a week later to contest a similar race to the one he faces this evening and he came out of the contest with great credit, finishing a close-up third in a bunch photo. Jumping well from the inside gate 10 days ago, unfortunately he found himself having to row his own boat from the front – which isn’t ideal at a track where the front runners often get eaten alive – so in the circumstances, he did well to hold on for as long as he did. That said, he still managed to post a pretty decent time figure (much better than the one achieved by Courtside) and providing he’s ridden with a little more restraint on his return visit, he’ll have a decent chance to coming through strong at the business and playing a vital role in the outcome.