Tuesday Racing Tips from Andy Holding

Things haven’t quite worked out for FIFTY BALL (best price 4-1) since he finished runner-up in last season’s Betfair Hurdle at Newbury, but the combination of today’s ground, extra distance and a return to a track where he’s enjoyed success in the past, might just spark enough of a revival that he’s capable of making a better impact than of late.

An instant hit when joining current connections from France, Gary Moore’s gelding worked his way through the ranks to be one of the leading players in that ultra-competitive handicap at the Berkshire venue and if it wasn’t for the late rattle of Soaring Glory on the run-in, he would have walked away with the big pot. Packed away after disappointing on his final start of the campaign in the County Hurdle, the son of Cororiko’s sights were set over fences in the early part of the new season, but after showing a good deal of promise on his opening gambit over today’s course, his next two runs both ended in a bit of a disaster. Shelving the new project in favour of going back over hurdles for the foreseeable future, the seven-year-old unfortunately found the lively ground totally suitable back to the scene of his career best last time out and he could never land a meaningful blow. Having been dropped to a mark of 127, he now finds himself in Class 3 company for the first time in a while and with today’s trip likely to place more emphasis on stamina rather than speed, this former winner over the extended 2m3f journey at Ascot is worth a small interest to see whether he can get back on track.

CROWN POWER (best price 2-1) has cut a bit of a frustrating figure in recent times, but with the greatest respect to her rivals here tonight, this Class 5 event is a little easier than she’s been tackling of late and she’s fancied to press home that viewpoint over a trip that might just end up proving her optimum.

In the money on each of her last four starts, she’s had the misfortune to bump into the likes of huge improvers Old Port and Almufeed on her last two racecourse visits, so in the circumstances, she hasn’t fared too badly. Good on the numbers despite being beaten three lengths by the former on her first visit to tonight’s track, it’s worth noting she finished well clear of the rest, and then having travelled well at the Sunbury venue 34 days ago, she patently didn’t see the trip out as well as anticipated. Dropping back down to the extended mile for the first time this evening, she will probably want a reasonable pace to shoot at, but with Queen Of Burgundy likely to assume the front-running role, hopefully the four-year-old will be able to took in behind before being delivered with a potent challenge late on.