Sunday Racing Tips from Andy Holding

ZOINNOCENT (best price 7/5) came home to really good effect after a slow beginning at The Curragh on her debut and with that initial outing likely to have done Joseph O’Brien’s filly the world of good, she’s fancied to make a huge leap forward at second time of asking.

On heels as the gates opened at the Co Kildare venue, as a result, the daughter of Zoffany was last in the early exchanges, and although she failed to make any sort of impact to the main player during the final part of the race, she did manage to put in a rousing finish. The way she hit the line strongly suggested that distances beyond six-furlongs would suit further down the line, so with today’s extra yardage, good draw and valuable experience to call on all seen as massive pluses, she’s highly likely to make a bigger impact this time around.

HAZY MEHMORY (NAP) (best price 6/4) took a huge step forward from her opening gambit over today’s C&D to last time and with the anticipation of even more to come, Ger Lyons’ filly is going to be extremely hard to beat – even more so with the non-participation of her main danger, Kerkiyra.

Still in last turning for home on her first start at the Co Kenny venue a month ago, the daughter of Mehmas finished off her race with a good deal of encouragement to be a never-nearer ninth, and with the likes of One For Bobby, Gradulation and Ha Ha Ha all going on to score subsequently, it’s quite clear she pretty well against some smart fillies. Back to the scene of that promising display three weeks later, her overall performance levels went up several notches and this time she managed to finish a creditable runner-up to a horse who is Royal Ascot bound in the shape of Flying Dolphin (in both the King George V Handicap and Hampton Court).

Once again very strong towards the backend of the contest, she shapes as though she will probably get much further than 1m1f in time, but for now her knowledge of today’s track and overall speed figures should easily be good enough to allow her to break her maiden tag and it would come as a huge disappointment for all concerned if she failed to complete the task at hand.

SAIGON (best price 3/1) failed in his bid to justify favouritism on turf debut at Newbury last month, but as the race at the Berkshire venue produced an extremely fast time and the form of the subsequent participants has been so reliable, Marco Botti’s gelding is afforded another in this much less competitive environment.

Promising in all three outings on the all-weather during the Spring, the son of Frankel looked on a handy mark for his handicap bow 30 days ago, but as it turned out, he could never land a meaningful blow in what turned out to be a strongly-run affair. Whether it was the culture shock of such heavy fractions, the drying ground or an issue with his wind – hence the tongue-tie -on today – only time will reveal, but either way, the numbers suggest he hasn’t got to improve much to be a more prominent force in today’s contest and he deserves to be supported accordingly.