Sunday Racing Tips from Andy Holding

It has to be significant that LUCKY MAN (best price 5/1) has posted his two career-high performances over this C&D and with today’s contest just a slight notch down from the ones he’s been tackling of late, Richard Spencer’s colt rates a strong choice to keep that trend going in the right direction.

Coming out best of those drawn low when runner-up to the very smart Harry Three (now rated 110) here earlier in the campaign, the son of Kodi Bear returned to the Knavesmire a month later to fill out the same position behind course specialist Gale Force Maya and with both efforts noted for the quality of the speed figures, he’s clearly used to going flat out over a speed-orientated track.

Whether he ends up being on the right part of the track from stall one is anyone’s guess, but either way, the rain that has fallen in the last 24 hours shouldn’t inconvenience him too much (ran well on soft ground at Chester back in May) and at the morning odds, he seems a perfectly logical each-way play with most firms offering four places.

ATACAMA DESERT (NAP) (best price 7/2) produced a big speed figure to coincide with his winning effort at Haydock last time out and with today’s track and step up in trip set to suit Kevin Frost’s gelding, this lightly-raced and unexposed sort is strongly fancied to make a big impact on ground similar to the one he raced on 30 days ago.

Unsuited by the slowly-run, tactical nature of his previous race at Chester, connections were hoping for the gallop to be a bit more to his liking at the Merseyside venue two months later and with their wishes coming to fruition thanks to the exploits of Colinton, who went a good gallop from the start, the son of Galileo was able to run to a career-high level. Just nudged out hands and heels in the latter stages, the four-year-old ended up winning with quite a bit up his sleeve and even though the assessor has tried to do his level best to readdress the balance, he’s likely to have the last laugh.

A trappy-looking sprint handicap to conclude the card, but it’s race where both TEXAS MAN (best price 10/1) and FRISKY (best price 8/1) should be capable of featuring prominently based on their recent exploits.

The former was always on the back foot after a tardy start at Doncaster last time out and as it turned out, his task was nigh-on impossible trying to run down a horse who, in the shape of Tees Spirit, went on to land a listed race at Tipperary next time out. Moreover, the numbers he posted on Town Moor indicated he’d run to a fair level despite being beaten over three lengths and providing stall 15 doesn’t end up being too much of an inconvenience, Paul Midgley’s gelding can feature in the final outcome.

The latter has yet to finish out of the money in all nine starts and that series of consistent performances looks set to continue at a track that threatens to suit. Off the mark at the seventh attempt at Leicester three outing ago, Bryan Smart’s chestnut could never get into a position where she could justify favouritism on his next start at Beverley and a similar fate awaited her at Chester last time. Awkward coming out of the gates on the Roodee, the daughter of Bated Breath forfeited a potentially good draw in stall two, and as is often the case over the minimum trip there, retrieving the situation proved an impossible task. She did, however, impress with the way she never gave up the ghost, and with the strong possibility on that evidence she could turn out to be a better horse than the eventual winner, Riversway, she’s strongly fancied to back up that view despite her odds suggesting otherwise.