Andy Holding's Monday Racing Tips

STREAM OF STARS (best price 3-1) finally gained to his due rewards for a couple of promising outings in maiden hurdles previously with a smooth victory at Ludlow last time out and even though he faces three rivals who are all above average, the son of Sea The Stars is expected to more than hold his own. 
Runner-up to the smart Fruit N Nut on his hurdling debut at Bangor (useful speed figure), Nigel Twiston-Davies’ gelding looked like he was going to gain instant compensation at Wetherby next time, but a bad mistake at the last flight checked his momentum, and in the end, he had to settle for a third-place finish behind the promising Harbour Lake. Sent off 1-3 to dispose of weaker-looking opposition at the Shropshire venue 21 days ago, the six-year-old did so with the minimum of fuss and with a return to a left-handed track seen as a more suitable option (tended to edge that way over hurdles last time), this well-built and improving novice can continue his progression up the ladder.

MAGICAL DIAS (best price 2-1) has already proven she can mix it with the boys based on her debut effort at Lingfield late last month and with loads of promise to be taken from that encouraging initial performance, Richard Hannon’s filly is likely to take high rank again in this similar contest granted just normal improvement. 

Not totally unfancied at the Surrey track, the daughter of Havana Gold settled well enough in the early stages despite being drawn out wide and by halfway she’d worked herself into a position whereby she had every chance if good enough rounding the home straight. Going for an ambitious run inside the final furlong when gathering up a head of steam, she didn’t get the smoothest of passages at a crucial stage – certainly compared to a few others – and in the end, she had to settle for a minor role behind two colts who quickened pretty smartly for juveniles having their debuts. Running the last three-furlongs in 33.2, that split time was only bettered by a handful of runners on the card who were all racing over sprint distances, so on that basis, she should have no problem coping with a drop back down in trip here this evening. 

EAGLE ONE (NAP) (best price 15-8) was unlucky to bump into a tenacious rival in the shape of Reset Button over tonight’s C&D last time out but with the time figure of the race going some way to explain the reasons for his defeat, Ron Harris’ gelding rates a decent proposition to go one place better on his return to the Midland venue. 

Having his first out for new connections since leaving Amanda Perrett, the three-year-old was also entitled to need the outing following a 56-day break, so to run well as he did under the circumstances has to go down as a tremendous start under his current regime. For a horse used to racing over further, he had little trouble coping with the drop back down in distance and as the numbers revealed, he actually improved on all his previous performances by posting a career-high on the speed figures. Indeed, not only was his overall time good, his final three-furlongs split of 35.8 was the best of any horse who competed in all the races over the extended mile or beyond that evening, so based on those findings, the son of Gleneagles is going to be pretty hard to beat if running anywhere near the same level.