Andy Holding's Thursday Racing Tips

WESTERN VICTORY (best price 15-4) is about as reliable as a Swiss clock and while fully excepting that the likes of Pencillfulloflead and Burrows Saint are two classier opponents, Declan Queally’s mare might just be able to take advantage of a possible edge in fitness at a track where she has already enjoyed quite a bit of success in the past.

Versatile over trips ranging from two to three miles, the daughter of Westerner looked as good as ever on her seasonal reappearance over the minimum distance at Gowran and although she failed repeat that success in a similar contest at Punchestown a month later, her levels of performance didn’t drop by too much. Looking back at last season and on the two times she raced over 2m7f, she featured prominently in two top-quality handicap hurdles – which are arguably more difficult to shine in that Graded races – and with any types of ground conditions coming alike to her, the eight-year-old should also be perfectly fine on today’s predicted going. Of her two main rivals today, Burrows Saint looked badly in need of the run in this race last season (travelled strongly before fading off the home turn), while connections of Pencillfulloflead are no doubt using today’s contest as a stepping stone towards resuming his career over fences.

The combination of an undulating track on soft ground proved ON TO VICTORY’s (best price 10-3) undoing on his seasonal debut at Sandown a month ago, but now racing back over a course where he was victorious during the previous campaign, Alan King’s gelding can regain the winning thread.

A pretty useful staying handicapper on the Flat, good enough to feature in many Class 2 events, the son of Rock Of Gibraltar hasn’t quite managed to translate his 100 rating in that sphere to hurdles as of yet, but he has shown on several occasions that he’s more than capable of mixing it with some decent company when conditions are in his favour. By no means disgraced in the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury last February, he rounded off the campaign with a smart effort in a competitive heat at Sandown and a repeat of either performances would see him go very close here this afternoon.