Andy Holding's Monday Racing Tips

OZ LEGEND (NAP) (best price 5-2) was a late withdrawal from a similar contest at Doncaster on Saturday, with connections stating the good-to-firm ground was unsuitable, but providing conditions are deemed fit for him to take his chance two days on, Hugo Palmer’s colt still remains one to keep on side.

In hindsight, trying to go with the strong early pace set by Greystoke at Newbury last time out wasn’t ideal, but he still came out of the race with great deal of credit, especially as the time figure was so good. Indeed, runner-up King Frankel would have won half the track had he not given himself too much to do at Epsom on Saturday and as we know, the winner, Bay Bridge, is a strong contender for the Group 2 King Edward Stakes at Royal Ascot having been bumped up to rating of 104. Prior to the that excellent effort at the Berkshire track, the son of Australia had shaped well behind a Godolphin colt who also looks sure to be Royal Ascot bound, so for his mark of 82 to be unaffected after both performances has to be considered a shade on the lenient side. Backed from an opening show of 7-2 to 6-4 before taken out on Saturday, hopefully, the progressive three-year-old will provide those who obtained the fancy odds with a second bite at the cherry.

FIFTYSHADEOFRED (best price 7-2) was just outrun in the closing stages by a similarly progressive colt at Yarmouth on his seasonal bow, but it was a performance that went a long way to erasing the memory of a modest show on his debut and he’s fancied to keep going in the right direction from here on in.

Soft ground was partly to blame for his modest show last October in the race won by Derby hero, Adayar, but we got to see a truer reflection of his ability six months on. Sent off 11-4 second best behind the well-fancied Moorbik at the seaside venue, the son of Siyouni went through the race with plenty of purpose and even though he had to settle for the runner-up berth, he certainly made the favourite pull out all the stops. Although the winner didn’t advertise the form as well as expected next time out, soft ground was to blame for his demise, but at least it was good to see the third horse home, First Connection, score on his next start, thus backing up the excellent time figure of the contest. Drawn out on the wing here today, he’s clearly got to break well in order to get across and try and offset that slight negative, but providing he can achieve that first objective safely, he should have every chance of being competitive in the second half of the race.