Thursday Racing Tips from Andy Holding

Time may tell BURROWS DIAMOND (best price 7-2) bumped into a pretty smart horse in the shape of Soldier Of Destiny at Haydock last time out, but now back against her own sex, Sue Smith’s mare is strongly fancied to regain the winning thread.

Looking at her form over hurdles from last season, it’s noticeable she didn’t come to herself until after the turn of the year, and her graph for this campaign has gone down a similar path. Off the mark at the fifth attempt over fences, the daughter of Diamond Boy quickly followed up at Uttoxeter next time and if it wasn’t for the fact she crossed paths with a potentially 140+ chaser at the Merseyside venue on her most recent start, she’d be arriving here on the back of a hat trick. Well clear of the third 22 days ago, her time figure in finishing second was bang on-par with her best previous work, and with her solid technique over her fences one of her main attributes, today’s jumping test should prove to be too her advantage.

It’s a fair comment to say PANIC ATTACK (NAP) (best price 15-4) has improved since undergoing wind surgery and if she can run to the same level of any of her previous three starts, David Pipe’s mare might well gain due reward for her consistency.

Runner-up in a competitive handicap hurdle on her final start last season, the daughter has only managed to visit the racecourse twice since but, as both performances have been in very strong contests against the boys, the policy to keep her lightly-raced seems to be working. Fourth here over the Old Course back in October, the six-year-old has gone on to better than effort when third in an ultra-competitive heat at Uttoxeter on Midlands National day and with the speed figure suggesting it’s very strong form (winner ran well at Aintree last week), a race of today’s nature against her own sex should be well within her range.

I AM GONNA BE (best price 7-1) looked a really nice prospect when she scored in tidy fashion on her rules debut at Newcastle a month ago and with the distinct likelihood of even more to come, Michael Scudamore’s mare can take the step up in grade in her stride.

Promising when placed in a couple of Irish points, the daughter of Barely A Moment was picked up in January for 37k at the Goffs sale and judged on her opening gambit at the Gosforth Park venue, that looks a bargain and a half. In what turned out to be a well-run race of its kind, the five-year-old was noted travelling conspicuously well turning for home and then when asked to go a stretch out in the latter stages, she found a ready turn of foot to come nicely clear of her rivals to score with plenty in hand. Posting a very good overall time figure, the form has already begun to take shape with both the runner-up and third winning since and with expected improvement to come, this scopey mare rates a confident choice to take high rank and reward each-way support.