Andy Holding's Thursday Racing Tips

OVERHEER (best price 4-1) did well to finish runner-up at Cork last time out given how the race panned out and on that evidence, he looks well worth keeping on side despite his price being a little shorter than anticipated.

A smooth winner on good ground at Tipperary last season, Joe Murphy’s gelding’s next three outings all came on much softer conditions and although he ran okay twice, it’s not really the surface on which he excels. Back on better conditions at the Co Mallow track last time out, he was strongly fancied to confirm his previous decent effort at Gowran and if it wasn’t for a wide draw which resulted in him being in a terrible spot coming out of the back straight, he’d undoubtedly won. Given the way he finished off his race, it’s easy to come to the conclusion he remains in tremendous heart and now back in the hands of regular pilot Oisin Orr, the son of Heeraat looks sure to go well for his bang-in-form handler. If it wasn’t for bagging a poor draw (21), Oneiroi would have also been on the shortlist for a bet as he did remarkably well to finish as close as he did here last time out, but he’s still worth noting all the same.

Highjacked is clearly going to be a popular choice given his solid C&D credentials, but he faces a potentially tricky opponent in the shape of END ZONE (best price 4-1) and Roger Fell’s gelding gains the vote to back up his game victory at Carlisle last time out.

Looking in need of the outing when sixth over today’s C&D back in April, the son of Dark Angle was well-backed to confirm that impression at the Yorkshire track a month later and as it turned out, the money was well placed. In what turned out to be a very strongly run race for the grade, the four-year-old stayed on best of all to win going away and it came as no surprise to find out he’d ended up running a career high on the speed figures. Clearly well suited by a well-run six-furlongs, there looks plenty of pace on here for his return to the Yorkshire venue and drawn right down the middle, he should end up fighting out the finish where most straight track races tend to congregate.

GREAT KING (NAP) (best price 9-4) didn’t get the rub of the green in a hot contest at Wolverhampton last time out but he did more than enough to suggest he a three-year-old worth keeping on side and he’s strongly fancied to back up that viewpoint against similar opposition.

An impressive winner of a Newcastle maiden in a fast time on his seasonal bow, Roger Varian’s colt was unsurprisingly a warm order to score on handicap debut a month later, but as it turned out, he failed to obtain a crucial run at a vital stage and he ended up playing second fiddle to the better positioned, Summa Peto. However, the time figure of the race in question suggested he’d still run to a high standard despite his troublesome passage and with the likelihood that experience taught him valuable lessons in race craft, hopefully tonight he can show his true worth.