Tuesday Horse Racing Tips from Andy Holding

MAKALU (best price 11-2) couldn’t quite get involved here last time out behind the rapidly progressive Bowood, but it was still a good enough effort to suggest he remains in form, and he is afforded another chance to rack up win number five for the season. 

Held up towards the rear of midfield at the Yorkshire track, he began to make his move at the same time as some of his main rivals but whereas they gained a clear run down the outside of the course, Ruth Carr’s inmate didn’t get the clearest of passages by staying among the main pack. 

Although that decision didn’t make any material difference to him winning, he may have finished a good deal closer and with an overall record at the Garden racecourse to suggest he is more likely to run his race than not, he rates a decent each-way proposition at the morning odds. 

REINA DEL MAR (best price 10-3) blew any chance she might have had of landing a big pot (57k) at Galway last time out with a slow start, but she still ran well under the circumstances to suggest she is worth keeping on side and in today’s much weaker affair, she has a decent chance of making amends if she stays the trip. 

The daughter of Awtaad has always had the tendency to take her time exiting the gates but even by her standards, that trait hit an all time high at Ballybrit and even though she did her level best to make up the lost deficit, she had very little chance of making an impact the way the race panned out, favouring those who raced towards the head of affairs.

That said, there were some positives to be taken out of the performance, such as her speed figure, and when you also consider the likes of Sixandahalf, Walhaan, Dutch Shultz and Going Remote finished behind her and have all won since, her ten-length defeat doesn’t look anywhere near as bad as it did on the day. 

The way she kept on 25 days ago and in her previous contest in a premier handicap over 1m6f at the Curragh, Joseph O’Brien’s inmate is definitely worth a shot at two miles and in a race that is a far cry from the sort of opposition she has been tackling of late, those of us who are prepared to get involved in her are just praying she doesn’t go completely to sleep again in the boxes.