Andy Holding's Wednesday Racing Tips

The race won by Harper’s Brook at Carlisle has already been given a nice boost with the runner-up scoring at Ayr on Monday and out of the two that featured prominently at the Cumbrian venue 31 days ago, NED TANNER (best price 6-1) just receives the nod over Dedanser on value grounds. 

Having his first start over hurdles after two promising efforts in bumpers, Nick Alexander’s gelding shaped pretty well considering he was a 33-1 poke and it was good to see him knuckle down and hard all the way to the line after coming off the bridle when the tempo increased. On the evidence of that display, the son of Milan should be better served by today’s extra half a mile and having run predominately on soft ground in all three previous starts, the ground which has changed dramatically in the last few days shouldn’t inconvenience him too much either.

PRINCE OF HARTS (best price 11-4) plain and simply outclassed by two decent all-weather horses at Kempton last time out, but he did more than enough to suggest his unexposed profile on the all-weather can be exploited further down the line and in today’s much weaker race, that theory is fancied to come to fruition. 

A largely consistent type if only winning just once since joining Rod Millman, the five-year-old was pitched into a hot-looking Class 2 contest at the Sunbury venue 19 days ago and although he couldn’t quite match the two main market rivals, he did keep on well late on to finish a creditable third. Time figure-wise, his performance indicated he’d not only run close to a career-high, but he also stays two miles really well, and with cheekpieces on for the first time today, the son of Dalakhani shouldn’t have too much to fear.

One has to hope GOOBINATOR (best price 11-4) confidence hasn’t been too badly affected following another tumble at Bangor last time out, but either way, he’s afforded another chance to prove that he remains a well-handicapped horse over hurdles following a series of fine efforts on the Flat. 

Strongly fancied at the welsh track courtesy of several smart efforts on the Flat in the Autumn – most notably his fourth in the Cesarewitch behind Buzz – Donald McCain’s gelding was still travelling with conspicuous ease until disaster struck at the final hurdle on the far side. Whether he would have beaten the eventual winner Hunter’s Call in open to question, but it’s pretty certain he would have had a huge say in the final outcome and on that basis, his mark of 126 still looks up for exploitation. The softer the ground the better for this chap and having already proven his suitability to today’s course on the Flat, the son of Noble Mission can keep the ball rolling for his red-hot trainer. 

With the greatest respect to tonight’s line-up, NATE THE GREAT (NAP) (best price 85-40) doesn’t face anything like the calibre of Bandinelli and Sleeping Lion on his return visit to the Sunbury venue this evening and with an overall record on the all-weather to suggest he’s very likely to run right up to his very best form, Andrew Balding’s gelding is fancied to take advantage of a drop-in class. 

Yet to finish outside the top four in five starts on an artificial surface, the son of Nathaniel maintained that fine record over tonight’s C&D last time out and even though he never looked likely to threaten the two main players that evening, the speed figure he posted in finishing an honourable fourth was still right up there with the best numbers of his career. A respectable fourteenth of 33 in the Cesarewitch at Newmarket previously, the form of that race subsequently has suggested he ran much better than first feared on the day and even though he faces an opponent in the shape Imperium who clearly loves it here at Kempton, the five-year-old should at least be capable of giving him plenty to think about.