Andy Holding has two tips for today's racing with one selection running at Tipperary and the other at Chester.
16:15 Chester
SELF PRAISE (best price 4/1) ran a nice race on debut at Doncaster last week and, with the school of thought being he may have done even better but for meeting trouble in running, Hugo Palmer’s colt can add to his trainer’s tally for the week.
A little slow away and taking a while to gather his thoughts in the early stages on Town Moor, the son of Twilight Son still had plenty on his plate at the halfway point, but once the penny began to drop inside the final two furlongs, he came home to good effect to finish on the coat tails of the main players.
Hitting the line hard, he left the impression he would be all the sharper for the run more mentally next time and with today’s ground likely to ensure it’s a reasonable test at the trip, this half-brother to a seven-furlong winner looks sure to come into his own in the latter stages.
18:15 Tipperary
Connections of CLODY VALLEY (best price 7/2) had to be extremely patient in order to get their moment in the limelight, but such was the manner of his victory at Tramore last time out, it wouldn’t be the biggest shock in the world if Liz Doyle’s gelding were to go in again.
Frustratingly 0-18 going into his most recent contest 25 days ago, his dodgy wind was mainly the root cause of his issues, but after several procedures and an added tongue-tie, he finally delivered the goods. Always travelling well at the Waterford venue, the seven-year-old swept into the lead after a good jump at the second last and from that point onwards he showed a smart turn of foot to pull well clear.
Clocking a good overall time, he also ran the last circuit on-par with the very useful Fighter Allen, so based on those findings, even a slight adjustment to his rating shouldn’t be enough to stop him if he’s in the same sort of shape.
