Wednesday Racing Tips from Andy Holding

MAYSONG’s (best price 12/1) recent form looks to have taken a bit of dip at first glance, but a closer inspection suggests he hasn’t run too badly and, as a result, he deserves a little more lover than the bookmakers have afforded him.

In excellent shape during the Summer months, things haven’t gone quite so smoothly in his last three starts, but there have been legitimate excuses for each run. The son of Mayson was drawn the wrong side of a 20-strong field at Newmarket when the high numbers dominated (stall one) two months ago, he got no sort of run at all here on his penultimate start and last time at Leicester, he was simply too far back in a race that was very strongly run.

Now back at a more realistic Class 5 level and nicely drawn in stall four, a decent early position should result in the five-year-old chestnut easily outrunning his morning odds.

SUNDAYINMAY (best price 9/2) is piecing together a nice package of performances on an all-weather surface and with the latest of her solid efforts coming over tonight’s C&D, William Knight’s inmate can make up for that narrow-margin defeat.

Always nicely positioned here 22 days ago, the daughter of Pastorius was noted still travelling well turning for home and just as it seemed likely she would go and win her race inside the final furlong, her nearest pursuer, Nordhalla, rallied back to wrestle the spoils out of her hands close home. Clearly still in excellent heart despite that agonising defeat, another well run race should bring her high cruising speed into full focus and she rates a solid each-way proposition at the morning odds.

The final qualifier of this sprint series may turn out to be the key to the outcome of tonight’s prize and of those who took part, TIGER CRUSADE (best price 6/1) and STRIKE RED (best price 5/1) will hopefully prove slightly more competitive than they were last week.

The former, as per usual, slightly missed the break so, as a result, he found himself with no other alternative but to sit and suffer and wait for the gaps to appear at the cutaway. Once in the clear, he dive-bombed up the inside rail, but just as he did, the door was slammed firmly in his face and that allowed several, including the winner, to obtain first run. Finishing full of running, he left the impression he would have gone close with a smoother overall passage and even though he’s not guaranteed to have any more favours thrown in his direction from stall one this evening, he also has far too much ability to be totally discounted.

The latter was done no favours by the draw here last week, stall 11 of 11 meaning he had to take his medicine and be dropped right out the back door. Still last turning for home, it would have taken a herculean effort for Richard Fahey’s gelding to win from where he was, but to finish as close up as he did still had to go down as a fairly decent effort in the circumstances.

Really good on his two previous starts, a better stall tonight should result in him being further up the field and as long as he’s within striking distance of the main players turning for home, his trademark kick finish should see him right in the thick of the action at the business end.