Tuesday Horse Racing Tips from Andy Holding

A decent juvenile contest for this time of year and although OUR BOY WES (best price 9-2) was beaten when strongly fancied to maintain his unblemished record in this sphere at Market Rasen last time out, the numbers he posted in defeat point towards him holding every chance of capturing some notable scalps on his third start over hurdles. 

No superstar on the Flat, Emmet Mullins’ inmate, however, made an immediate impact over hurdles by winning nicely on debut at Ballinrobe and that performance prompted connections to have a crack at something more meaningful at the Lincolnshire venue last time out. 
In a race run at a proper gallop courtesy of the conformed front runner Max Of Stars, the son of Postponed held every chance going down to the last but the effort of working himself into such a position followed by a slight mistake combined to undermine his finishing challenge and he ultimately faded into third. 

That said, once crunching the numbers from 10 days ago, it turns out he ran a good deal better than at first feared and now back among his Irish counterparts holding arguably the best form line heading into the contest, he should be more than capable of holding his own. 

ZIRYAB (best price 4-1) hasn’t been seen out since disappointing as favourite in a competitive handicap at Newmarket but in the hope a recent gelding operation might be the answer to his negative performance, a chance is taken of John & Thady Gosden’s inmate bouncing back to form on his return to a track that saw him win impressive in the summer. 

Hugely impressive both visually and on the clock when bolting up in a novice event here in June, the son of Kingman was sent off one of the market leaders for the Golden Gates Handicap at Royal Ascot and although he came up a little short of the day, it was a performance that still suggested there were some decent races to be won with him further down the line.

Well backed to confirm that opinion at HQ a month later, he proved a bitter failure in a race seemingly far less competitive than his previous assignment and so it was from that juncture connections decided to take appropriate action. 

Not seen out since having the unkindest cut of all, hopefully the talented three-year-old will have his mind more focused on the job at hand and get back to the sort of horse we saw during the early part of the campaign. 

GETAWAY CHARLIE (best price 12-1) represents a team surfing the crest of a wave at present and, having been given far too much to do at Listowel last time out, a more positive ride can result in another winner for the rampant Timothy Doyle.  

Seemingly going well turning out of the back straight for the final time at the Co Kerry venue, it soon became apparent his amateur pilot hadn’t accounted for the similarly smooth traveling Cozzone who was quite a bit ahead of him at this juncture and as the winner also benefited for racing out wide on the better ground, his task in trying to run him down while forced to race on the swamp around the inside proved a fruitless exercise. 

Despite this slight lack of judgement, the seven-year-old still did as best as he could under the circumstances by beating the rest with a degree of comfort, so to come out of that contest with his rating virtually unblemished might turn out to be a blessing in disguise as far as today’s assignment is concerned. 

Placed in all three of his maiden hurdles prior to his latest performance, one of which was over today’s C&D, everything looks set fair for him in his bid to finally break his duck.