Sunday Horse Racing Tips from Andy Holding

PROMISE GIVEN (best price 5-1) shaped with a good deal of encouragement for the future on her debut at Cork last month and with that initial experience unlikely to be lost on Chris Timmons’ filly, she can play a more significant role in this similar contest. 

Held up towards the rear at the Mallow venue after missing the kick, the daughter of Mayson travelled noticeably well down to the two-furlong pole, but it was from that point onwards when she ran into a wall of horse blocking her path and just had to sit and suffer while the action developed ahead of her. 

Once seeing a bit of daylight late on, she finished off her race in such a fashion that its easy to draw to the conclusion she would have taken a hand in the outcome and given the speed she exhibited 23 days ago, today’s sharp, turning six-furlongs should prove ideal for this pacey juvenile. 

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HELLO COTAI’s (best price 5-1) horse box must have run over a black cat on the way to the races such was the bad luck his received on the track itself and, it what appears to be an easier contest on paper compared to that encounter, and the one previously, Adam West’s gelding can gain compensation. 

A narrow runner-up in a strong race for the grade at Goodwood previously, he was well supported in the first-time blinkers to finally shed his maiden tag at the Merseyside venue but after a slow start and an agonisingly troublesome passage all the way down the home straight, the three-year-old coasted home to finish a never-nearer fourth. 

Clearly way better than that run implies, the son of Cotai Glory will surely enjoy a better rub of the green here today and of so, he easily can land a race of this nature based on what we’ve seen of him of late. 

Pat Smullen, for which this race was named after, was synonymous with his association with Dermot Weld and the master of Rosewell looks to have a decent chance of gaining a heart-felt victory with SARA VALENTINA (best price 9-2), even though the ratings suggest she has a bit to find. 

The combination of a mile on heavy ground proved her undoing on her only start as a two-year-old, but given time to develop and, more importantly, racing on slightly better ground on her seasonal bow at Limerick, she proved a totally different proposition, scoring with any amount in hand.

Although she may have not beaten much, she posted a smart speed figure for a race of its kind and although she faces many lightly raced types who have achieved more so far to date, it’s significant her astute handler feels she will prove equal to the task. 

ARDBRACCAN (best price 4-1) bumped into two progressive fillies over today’s course last time out, but she now drops down to a more suitable trip on her return visit and in a contest where very few have convincing profiles, Michael Appleby’s mare can make a bold bid to add to her previous C&D success. 

Like her previous two starts this season, she was slow away here 12 days but that didn’t stop her running right up to her best form, staying on well from the abck of the field to finish a never-nearer third. Looking at the backend sectionals from that useful heat, the daughter of Lawman faced an impossible task trying to run down two fillies who were quicker in the final three furlongs than the colts maiden over the same C&D and with seemingly nothing of that calibre against her on her return to her favourite venue, it would be a surprise if she wasn’t capable of going close to adding to her tally.