Tuesday Racing Tips from Andy Holding

MOUNT IGUELDO (NAP) (best price 7-4) was in the process of making the smart Jungle Jack work hard for his corn when a bad mistake two out checked his momentum but it still ended up being a good enough run to strongly suggests he’s ready to lose his maiden tag in a race of this nature.

Extremely promising in two above-average northern novice hurdles, Oliver Greenall’s gelding ventured a little further south to contest his latest assignment and even allowing for the fact things went the shape of the pear in the latter stages, the over form levels of all three races supersede anything else in today’s field. A likeable type with a decent cruising speed and plenty of scope for the future, the son of Cororiko rates the one to beat. Of his main opposition, a lot has to be taken on trust with Whizz Kid despite him running in the Grade 1 Tolworth Hurdle last time (beaten 72 lengths) while Kopa Kilana has fitness to prove following his long absence.

DAWN RAIDER (best price 7-4) bounced back to form with a vengeance on his eleventh start for current connections at Carlisle last week and with one of the main reasons for his performance put down to the fact he settled much better than in his previous outings, hopefully Gary Hamner’s gelding switches off in a similar fashion that allows him to repeat the dose a week on.

A largely frustrating character when trained in Ireland, the son of Mahler appeared to be treading a similar path despite switching stables, but his latest performance just showed what he’s capable of when on song. Despite racing in Class 4 company and up against many in-form rivals, the nine-year-old made a mockery of all previous evidence with a display of some authority and then when you break down his effort on the numbers, his achievements become even more impressive. In winning with quite a bit in hand, the 10-year-old not only ran the best furlong-per-furlong figure on the card, he also managed to run the final circuit 3.2 seconds quicker than the 125-rated Bavington Bob, which takes some doing for a horse rated just 90. Based on those findings, today’s opponents have little chance of beating Dawn Raider if he’s in the same form and with ground switching back in his favour too, the selection can’t have too many excuses if he fails to convert the spot kick.