Thursday Racing Tips from Andy Holding

DATSALRIGHTGINO (NAP) (best price 7/2) left the impression he may have won had things panned out a little better for him at Newbury last time out and he’s strongly fancied to press home that theory over today’s similar galloping track.

Arriving at the Berkshire venue off the back of two solid foundations over fences, Jamie Snowden’s gelding was well-fancied to back up his previous Chepstow success, but having got slightly outpaced and left behind going down the side of the track, he couldn’t quite recover the lost ground in time and he had to settle for a never-nearer third. That said, the time figure and subsequent form of the race 34 days ago suggested his performance in defeat was even better than his previous win, so to come into today’s contest off the same mark has to be seen as a decent opportunity to exploit.

Although there are several front runners in today’s field, it would be pertinent if Gavin Sheehan maybe made more use of the son of It’s Gino’s stamina today by being fairly aggressive on his mount and if so, the outcome is likely to be more fruitful.

RAMON DI LORIA (best price 10/1) will need an end-to-end gallop to be competitive over this flat, five-furlongs but, as that scenario looks very much like being the order of the day, Ewan Whillans’ gelding is fancied to grab a piece of the action late on.

The beneficiary of a strong pace at Newcastle back in September, the son of Dandy Man almost repeated the dose on his latest start there nine days ago, but as it turned out, his late thrust just narrowly missed by a head.

In between times, the four-year-old has been a little inconsistent but it’s also worth pointing out he hasn’t got too much to find with one of today’s main contenders Twilight Madness and at the morning odds, he makes quite a bit of each-way appeal.

SURPRISE PICTURE (best price 10/1) has twice run out of steam having been ridden aggressively over longer trips than he faces today, so a chance is taken Keith Dalgleish’s gelding can be more effective over six furlongs.

One of the main factors behind such a big time figure here last time, the son of Kodiac kept on well to finish a creditable fifth having gone extremely hard up front and it was a similar story over a mile the time before at Wolverhampton.

Looking back at his last success, it was noticeable it came when he raced prominently over tonight’s trip and with his latest adventure at least serving the purpose of him getting accustom to the Colwick Park surroundings, his chance on his return visit may be a little better than his morning odds imply.