Andy Holding's Thursday Racing Tips

DESERT DREAMER (best price 7-1) has been the bridesmaid on each of her last three starts and although she has a little to find with the likes of old rivals Sandrine and Zain Claudette, she still makes the most appeal of the trio at the respective morning odds– especially from an each-way stance.

Doing all her best work at the finish in the Duchess Of Cambridge at Newmarket two starts ago, she rather let the former get first run on her that day and then she was undone by the latter at Ascot when challenging on the wrong side of the track. A sweet traveller with a decent turn of foot at the end of her races, hopefully she will be sufficiently in touch with her main rivals to make some sort of impact at the business end. Either way, you’d like to think she’ll be good enough to finish in the frame at the very least and she deserves to be backed accordingly each-way and in the place only markets.

STRIKE (NAP) (best price 6-4) was unlucky to bump into an extremely smart colt in the shape of Prop Forward at Bath last time out, but as the time figure was very useful for the grade, Jonathon Portman’s gelding is afforded another chance to break his maiden tag.

Gelded and operated on for his wind prior to making his debut at Salisbury, the son of Lethal force shaped pretty well for an unconsidered 50-1 poke and he improved upon that effort at the Somerset track a month later by overcoming a slow start to finish a never-nearer second to a horse who is held in the very highest regard by his set of connections. Given the time figure the winner produced that day, it goes some way to explain why he could never land a blow on the Clive Cox-trained colt, but he did post a useful set on numbers in his own right and in what looks a very winnable race, he rates a confident choice to convert that pace he showed in the latter stages 15 days ago to today’s extra furlong and a half.

VESELA (best price 16-1) has shaped pretty well in several similar races to today’s over 1m2f, but each time she’s suggested she may require further in order to be seen in a better light and she’s worth a small interest to back up that view.

One-paced in the latter stages behind Creative Flare on her seasonal reappearance at Newbury, the time figure and subsequent victories of Lilac Road and Auria have suggested Ralph Beckett’s filly deserved plenty of praise for that effort after a 230-day break. Not getting the clearest of runs in a muddling affair over today’s course a month later, she once again kept on quite well once out in the clear in the latter stages and it was a similar situation at Salisbury last time out, when she plugged on gamely to finish behind the useful pair Lilac Road and Technique in a decent listed race last time. Heading back to the Knavesmire with more experience under her belt, the step up to 1m4f should aid her cause and with the cheekpieces presumably on to help her focus a little more in the crucial part of the race, the daughter of Frankel can hopefully outrun her morning odds.

CAMORRA (best price 11-2) stayed on best of those who were held up off the pace in a strong premier handicap at Galway last time out and with today’s contest not having anywhere near the strength in depth of that hot contest 19 days ago, Ger Lyon’s gelding is strongly fancied to put his class edge to good use.

A creditable third on his seasonal bow behind Stratum at Gowran, the four-year-old was given another decent break before arriving at Ballybrit three months later, but that layoff didn’t stop him running blinder in one of the most competitive and strongly-run handicaps on the entire week. In a contest where it ultimately paid to race handy, the son of Zoffany did about as well as could be expected considering where he was with half a mile to run and, over a trip just shy of his optimum, his effort has to go down a commendable one. Up two furlongs and with the blinkers retained, it would be a big head-scratcher if he wasn’t to go very close to defying top weight.

OSLO (best price 7-1) has been a little frustrating of late, none more so with his performance in defeat at Lingfield last week, but there’s also no denying he has enough ability to land a race of this nature and at the morning odds, a chance is taken everything falls just right for Michael Appleby’s gelding.

Tried in the first time cheekpieces at Nottingham three starts ago, the four-year-old finished full of running after unbelievably getting boxed in behind horses in a five-runner affair and then he was given too much to do on the all-weather at Newcastle next time. Having his second stab at another competitive racing league event at the Surrey venue two weeks later, the way he cruised up to the leaders at the furlong pole he looked sure to oblige, but whether it a case of him not wanting to go by Menai Bridge, the winner just being incredibly game, or a bit of both, he had to settle for an agonising runner-up spot for the fifth time in his career. Those recent results very much lend you to believe he has a touch of the “after you Claude’s” about him and he’s not one to trust implicitly – certainly not at a short price – but the fact of the matter is he’s more than a backable here around the 7-1 mark and with the safety net of some firms offering four places, he makes loads of appeal from an each-way/place only stance. Indeed, he would only have to run close to the sort of speed figures he’s been consistently knocking out on a regular basis for the thick end of two seasons to feature in the heat of battle of this contest and if Cam Hardie can deliver his mount to a nicety, the win side of the bet might not be totally out of reach.