Andy Holding's Monday Racing Tips

SAN GIOVANNI (best price 5-2) did pretty well to finish a close-up third to the potentially smart Holly in a decent novices’ hurdle considering his early exuberance, and with that performance unlikely to be lost on Harry Fry’s gelding going forward, he rates a strong choice for top honours around today’s similar course.

Only mildly promising in two previous outings for Emma Lavelle, the son of Milan was coming back following a 382-day break at the West Country venue, so it was understandable why he was a little fresher than most through the first mile of the contest. However, he still managed to produce a fairly productive finishing effort in the closing stages and that says quite a bit about his natural ability. As far as the time figure goes, the numbers from 27 days ago suggest it was an above-average heat and with the sixth and seventh going on to prove that theory to be the case subsequently, there’s no reason why the six-year-old won’t follow suit.

NO NO TONIC (best price 4-1) has still yet to win in 14 starts, but a repeat of her career-high effort at Exeter last time out is likely to see her go very close to losing that unwanted maiden tag.

Placed on three of her last five starts – including two runner-up spots – Mark Gillard’s mare seemed to really appreciate being dropped back to the minimum trip two outings ago when chasing home the in-form mare Peltwell at Wincanton. Quite rightly raised to a mark of 93 as a result of that effort, connections, however, decided to pitch her into a hot maiden hurdle at the Haldon Hill venue a month ago and despite her being sent off an 80-1 chance, she managed to mix it with some pretty smart and promising novices. Although she was beaten 19 lengths by the winner Lac De Constance, the time figure of the race suggested she’d run way beyond her current rating and with the horse that finished ahead of her, Great Ocean, going on to endorse the form at Wincanton over the weekend, there’s no obvious reason why anything other than a positive view can be taken on the performance. Only beaten two lengths on soft ground on her previous visit to today’s venue, the daughter of Sulamani rates a strong each-way choice with conditions in her favour.