Saturday Horse Racing Tips from Andy Holding

It’s doubtful many of these will end up having a say to the outcome of the Triumph Hurdle, mainly due to the proximity of this race to Cheltenham but it’s a decent prize to win all the same and CAPTAIN MARVELLOUS (best price 13/2) might just end up having more of an involvement than his morning odds imply.

A proper, tall, and imposing chasing type, nowhere near in the mould of your archetypal juvenile, Jane Willam’s gelding began life over hurdles with an encouraging run here in the autumn and he soon backed up that effort with a convincing success on his return visit a month later.

Setting out with a degree of intent, he soon had his rivals at full stretch and even accounting for the fact he made a mistake when taking his eye off the ball at the last, he still came home clear to the tune of 23 lengths.

Although he may not have beaten much 89 days ago, the time figure he produced suggested it was a fair effort by the son of Masked Marvel and with connections deliberately wanting to keep him fresh for this contest ever since, a big run is anticipated despite ground conditions being somewhat of an unknown quantity.

BLOW YOUR WAD (best price 11/4) looked all at sea around the undulations of Cheltenham last time out but prior to that slightly below par effort he’d run out an impressive winner over today’s C&D and in the hope a return to the Sunbury venue has the deserved effect, Tom Lacey’s can get his chasing career back on track.

Right from an early stage, Tom Lacey’s inmate seemed unhappy with life at Prestbury Park, being niggled along to keep in touch with a hot pace set by Ginny’s Destiny, and by the time the runners had reached the top of the hill, he had the look of a busted flush.

Prior to that rather tame effort by his standards, the six-year-old posted a career high speed figure when accounting for a useful field and with that notable victory going alongside his previous successful visit to today’s track (over hurdles), it’s clear for all to see a flatter terrain suits him best.

A winner of a useful novice’s event at Newbury on soft ground, he also coped well with even more testing conditions in the Silver Trophy over hurdles on his first outing of the season and with the addition of cheekpieces for the first time seen as a tool just to keep his mind in focus, he has a decent chance of maintaining his unbeaten track record.

GLEN KILN (best price 9/2), despite enduring quite a busy spell, seems to be thriving on the workload and with his endeavours handsomely rewarded at Naas last time out, he’s strongly fancied to make a big impact on his first outing in handicap company.

For starters, the son of Famous Name ran in some hot novice hurdles in the depths of winter and some of the speed figures he posted in defeat were more than respectable. Finally getting his day in the sun at the Co Meath venue last time, he showed good battling qualities to fend off the persistent challenge of Musta Lovea Lovea (third to Slade Stell previously) and with a decent distance back to the third, the form looks solid.

Based on his effort that day and his run when runner-up to the useful Spread Boss Ted, an opening mark of 118 looks far from harsh and with his suitability to track and ground proven, another big run looks on the cards.

PRINCE QUALI (NAP) (best price 10/3) can count himself unfortunate to have his pocked picked in the dying embers of his latest encounter at Plumpton but with track and conditions here today even more in his favour, Robert Walford’s gelding can gain quick compensation.

Having narrowly failed to reel back the pace setting Fast Bucks at Wincanton previously, the seven-year-old was well supported to go one place better at the Sussex venue and for majority of the 2m1f journey he looked like landing the punt.

On the positive side, the data revealed both he and winner ran the final circuit considerably quicker than the 132-rated Kotmask, who landed the more valuable chase on the same card, and based on that knowledge, he could turn out to be the one best equipped to handle the heavy ground.

One of many cracking races on a star-studded card at the Midland venue and there’s a strong case to be made for AQWAAM (best price 6/1) capturing this competitive prize.

A model of consistency throughout the winter all-weather campaign, Ian Williams’ gelding arrives here following another solid effort at Wolverhampton last time out and when you consider the winner that day, Max Vega, has been contesting Group races for much of his life, it puts into context the levels he had to go to in chasing him home.

Unsuited by a slowly run, tactical affair when filling out the same spot behind one of tonight’s main player, Artisan Dancer, over the same course previously, tonight’s contest should develop into the kind of test he prefers and having run well on his two previous visits to Colwick Park, the son of Sea The Stars makes plenty of appeal from an each-way stance with most firms offering four places.