Sunday Racing Tips from Andy Holding

HAUTURIERE (NAP) (best price 15/8) appears to be improving at a rapid rate of knots and following her breakthrough success at listed level at Punchestown last time out, confidence is high Willie Mullins’ mare can justify coming here instead of rocking up at the Cheltenham festival this week.

Not quite sharp enough to cope with the race fit Shouldcouldbeanything on his first outing for 296 days over today’s track back in December, she went on to make amends at Fairyhouse next time out in no uncertain terms.

Seeking revenge on her old rival and several other in-form mares when upped in grade at the Co Kildare venue three weeks ago, the daughter of No Risk At All looked to be in a spot of bother rounding the home turn, but once her stamina kicked in during the closing stages, she eventually wore down the pace-setter to win going away.

Based on her last two performances, in particular, a decent test seems to suit the six-year-old chestnut best and with the strong possibility of a fair pace being set here this afternoon (Harmonya Maker and Feddans both like to make the running), everything should be set fair for her to shine.

QUORNOFAMONDAY (best price 8/1) shaped with a good deal more promise than the bare form suggested at Fairyhouse last time out and, as a result, he rates one of the most intriguing runners in today’s line-up.

A faller at the first on his first outing for new connections at Naas, Philip Dempsey’s gelding was fairly easy to back on his latest assignment at the Co Meath venue and although his end product may have been in line with his 16-1 odds, a closer inspection of his effort suggests otherwise.

Noted travelling extremely well towards the rear of the field throughout, it was difficult to tell by his jockey’s body language what was going on with the son of Libertarian inside the final half mile, other than to say he didn’t appear to receive the strongest of rides. If you were being kind, it may have been an exercise in getting the five-year-old to settle in his races, so if that was the case, you might just give them the benefit of the doubt.

Either way, based on his overall display 15 days ago, there’s every possibility he will prove good enough to win off his current mark of 87 at some stage and at his double-figure morning quotes, he’s worth a small interest to find out whether it’s today.

CEDAR ROW (best price 11/4) shaped with a conspicuous amount of promise in an above-average novices’ hurdle over today’s track last time out and with that performance strongly suggesting he’s very much going in the right direction, Jonjo O’Neill’s gelding might be worth chancing on handicap debut.

Heading into that race 16 days ago following two pretty uninspiring efforts, it was easy to see why he was chalked up 150-1 against the likes of Pikar, Henri The Second and Pachacuti, but to his great credit, he managed to more than hold his own.

Held up towards the rear, the son of Westerner made some inroads to latch on to the coat tails of the main pack turning for home and, in keeping on steadily all the way down the straight, he ended up finishing a respectable distance behind horses rated in the 130’s.

Not knocked about to do so, hopefully he will have learnt plenty from the experience of running in a well-run affair and even though today’s conditions look set to be a good deal more testing on his return visit, he’s still worth a roll of the dice to confirm his promise.

ESPANITO BELLO (best price 9/2) could never recover from badly losing his position at vital stage in the Thyestes Chase at Gowran last time out, but with today’s assignment nowhere as demanding in terms of quality opposition, Barry Connell’s gelding can initiate a tremendous well in prospect for connections.

Seemingly laid out for the valuable contest at the Co Kenny venue, the well-supported gelding never really gave his supporters too much hope of collecting the main prize, but he did keep on quite nicely in the latter stages to finish a respectable fifth.

Lightly-raced in recent times, it’s worth noting some of his better efforts in the past have taken place over today’s venue and with plenty of life left in him based on his performance 45 days ago, another positive display looks forthcoming.