Friday Racing Tips from Andy Holding

Three who took part in the Cumberland Plate at Carlisle a few weeks ago reoppose and although cases can be made for anyone of the trio, EL PICADOR (best price 5/1) rates the percentage each-way call at the morning odds. 

Held up towards the rear in the early stages of a well-run affair at the Cumbrian venue, the six-year-old began to make his move as the field worked their way up the hill on the climb to the line and although his progress carried him into thick end of the action late on, he couldn’t quite peg back several who obtained first run.

Moreover, had he not challenged on the slowest part of the track up the inside, it may well have been a different story and now returning to a course where he was a notable unlucky loser four starts ago, Keith Dalgleish’s gelding can go some way to make amends. 

LEZOO (best price 2/1) provided Frankie Dettori the instant tonic he needed after a retched week at Royal Ascot and with that winning performance over today’s C&D coming in a fast time, there’s every chance Ralph Beckett’s filly can keep the Italian in everyone’s good books. 

A smooth winner on debut at Bath, the daughter of Zoutstar was fast tracked to take on pattern company on just her second start but despite her lack of experience, she had enough class to make the grade.

Showing an impressive turn to foot to overhaul the positively ridden Malrescia, she went on to post a very fast time for a two-year-old and with similar fast ground conditions likely to be the order of the day given the forecast, her daisy-cutting action can once again be seen to good effect. 

Soulmate ran out an impressive winner at Haydock last week, the first-time blinkers clearly having the desired effect, but the simple hypothetical question to ask here is where would he finished in the King George VI Handicap, and if the answer is not in the first half a dozen, then the bet surely has to be TEUMESSIAN FOX (best price 11/4) at the morning odds. 

No match for the wildly-impressive Brayden Star (subsequently sold to Hong Kong for a tidy sum) at Salisbury two starts ago, the thought of him taken on many improving and unexposed stayers in one of the hottest three-year-old handicaps at the Royal meeting seemed an audacious idea to say the least, but as it turned out, the decision to roll the dice was fully justified.

Noted going as well as anything turning for home, Andrew Balding’s inmate stayed on stoutly all the way to the line and although he ultimately wasn’t fully rewarded for his efforts, to finish a close-up sixth in a race of that magnitude has to go down as a career high. Form-wise, the race has already begun to take shape with the runner-up, Deauville Legend, going on to land a Group 3 at Newmarket yesterday and having finished only two lengths behind James Ferguson’s colt, a performance of a similar standard makes him the one to beat despite the market suggesting otherwise. 

ATRIUM (best price 11/4) was by no means disgraced in the ultra-competitive Britannia Handicap over today’s C&D last time and with the opposition he meets on his return to the Berkshire venue a little less taxing on paper, Charlie Fellows’ gelding can add to his two other previous victories at the track. 

Targeted at the big-field, three-year-old mile contest after impressing here a month earlier, the son of Holy Roman Emperor was supported at decent odds to maintain his unbeaten record at the track and although he failed in his bid to do so, his performance was much better than at first feared.

Held up towards the rear in what turned out to be an extremely strongly run affair, the fact he did manage to make some inroads from the back of the field to finish on the coat tails of the main players has to be commended given the overall standard of this year’s renewal and if any more evidence was needed of the level of form we are dealing with, the 15th home Claim The Crown went to score at Ripon next time out.

Likely to be dropped out from his wide draw, he will also have to prove that he can be equally effective going around a bend, but as hold-up horses have a history of doing quite well on today’s round course, there’s more than a fair chance he can pull off those tactics off a potentially decent gallop (Cosmic Desert and King Cabo both confirmed front runners).

LATE ARRIVAL (NAP) (best price 2/1) knocked the ball out of the park on the figures at Pontefract last time out and having been handed the golden ticket of the plumb inside draw, a decent break should mean the five-year-old will prove very difficult for the others to handle. 

Even withstanding the son of Night Of Thunder ended up having a very favourable draw at the Yorkshire venue 11 days ago, that advantage still shouldn’t have allowed him to win by five lengths, so it’s just a case of him being going out and proving it was no fluke.

Confidence the form and numbers from the race in question aren’t mythical are boosted by the fact the sixth horse home, Round The island (beaten 16 lengths), won at Catterick on Wednesday, and with both if his other two recent victories coming when he’s made all the running, those tactics are tailor made for tonight’s venue.