Wednesday's Racing Tips from Andy Holding

ITACARE (best price 4/1) was heavily involved in an extremely competitive handicap hurdle at Worcester last time out and a repeat of a similar level of form should see David Pipe’s grey gain maximum rewards for a series of consistent performances.

A winner on his first start post wind surgery at Ludlow back in March, the son of Silver Frost has yet to get his head back in front on four attempts since, but after a solid effort in defeat at Ffos Las a month ago, he went on to run an even better race just over a week later at the Midland venue. Held up in midfield, the five-year-old made his move approaching the home turn and without shirking the issue at any stage down the straight, he kept on strongly with the front two all the way to the line.

Looking at the numbers from that 2m7f contest two weeks ago, it’s noticeable the front three all ran a fast final circuit to match a smart overall speed figure and with today’s opponents respected but certainly in no way feared, he should give another bold account.

BREACH (best price 15/2) fared best of those who were drawn low in a hot handicap for the grade at The Curragh when last seen and having been snapped up by shrewd connections to do a job or two over on these shores, John Butler’s filly will hopefully begin life from her new base in a positive vein.

Winless in six starts and having fairly uninspiring-looking form figures, at first glance things seem a bit grim for the daughter of Intello, but when delving a little deeper into the nuts and bolts of her last two performances, there’s a good deal more enragement to be gleaned. On her first outing at the Co Kildare venue she was noted doing some sterling late work in the final two furlongs after being trapped on the nearside rail for majority of the race and although she failed to trouble the judge again next time, she ran a good deal better than the bare result suggests. On an evening where there was a pronounced stands’ side bias (high numbers favoured), she did well to finish as close as she did in the circumstances and when you consider she went through the line upsides Coumshingaun, who is now rated 88 after landing a premier handicap subsequently, her performance reads extremely well in the context of tonight’s affair.

Despite this seemingly improved effort, the handicapper saw fit to actually drop the three-year-old filly to a mark of 58 and that decision means that new connections have plenty of scope to do some damage at a fairly low level before reaching her true potential. Whether tonight, after a 72-day break, will showcase her talents is open to debate hailing from a set-up renown for doing things their way, but providing she is somewhere close to peak fitness and allowed to run on her merits, it would be a bit of a head scratcher if she wasn’t capable of being competitive at Class 5 level considering the kind of horses she’s been up against on her last two starts.