Thursday Racing Tips from Andy Holding

THEORYOFEVERYTHING (NAP) (best price 3/1) ended up getting beaten a fair way in the Greenham Stakes at Newbury last time out, but considering today’s examination is a far cry from the sort of opposition he faced 19 days ago, John & Thady Gosden’s inmate rates a decent proposition now taking a huge drop down in class.

An impressive seven-length winner on his debut at Doncaster on the opening day of the Flat season, the son of Frankel clearly relished the soft ground on Town Moor, and with connections wasting no time in wanting to find out whether he was a pattern performer in the making, he was sent to the Berkshire venue to tackle what looked an informative Group 3 on paper beforehand.

As it turned out, he could never land a blow at the all-the-way winner, Isaac Shelby, who kept up a relentless pace in the conditions from the front, but with the time figure speaking favourably of the race in question, his performance probably deserves more praise than it received at the time.

A spurious link though it might be, Chaldean – albeit without a jockey on his back - has subsequently gone on to boost the form of the race since and with his outside draw not seen as that a big a negative given how the track was riding on day one, everything looks set fair for this lightly-raced three-year-old to put this sort of opposition in their place.

PARC D’AMOUR (best price 7/4) could turn out to be one of those horses that always lulls you into a false sense of security, but there is little doubt he has enough ability to win a race if he consents to put his best foot forward and with today’s contest not looking the strongest on paper, it might well be that he finally delivers the goods on handicap debut.

A keen goer in his races, Ciaran Gethings looked to have executed the perfect ride on Kim Bailey’s inmate at Taunton two starts ago only for his mount to be run out of the argument late on by the classy Rare Middleton and it was a case of deva vu at Warwick last time out.

Once again impressing with the way he travelled at the Midland venue, the six-year-old arrived on the scene seemingly going best of all on the run to the last but once again, he found the well-fancied Izayte too strong for him on the run-in and he ended up having to play second fiddle for the second time in a row.

Whether it was lack of an outing for 112 days that made the difference, or he has the heart of a pea (for exchange players, probably worth sticking in short in the in-running market), only time will tell with more evidence but for now, he is given the benefit of the doubt in the first-time hood.

CITY STREAK (best price 7/2) shaped with plenty of encouragement on his first start for 236 days at Chelmsford recently and with that initial effort likely to have done him the world of good in terms of fitness, Andrew Balding’s gelding should be just about cherry-ripe for a crack at today’s prize.

In what turned out to be a tactical affair at the Essex track, the four-year-old chestnut held every chance approaching the final furlong but ultimately, he was just run out of the argument late on and he had to settle for a valiant third behind two all-weather specialists.

A consistent performer all through last season, the son of Cityscape has also proved his versatility under variety of conditions and with his best effort on the clock coming with plenty of ease underfoot at Goodwood last August, confidence is high he can go one place better than he did when first visiting the Roodeye.