Andy Holding has three tips for Friday's racing, including an each-way shout in the Breeders Cup.
bottlegreen HurdleSee All Odds
2.35 DOWN ROYAL
It is always dangerous to oppose a Gordon Elliott-trained runner at this meeting, particularly one as talented as Mange Tout, but BLAKE has had the benefit of a recent run and that vital component might well turn out to be the determining factor.
The fact that Noel Meade’s gelding won at this meeting last year and used a race on the flat to blow away the cobwebs strongly suggest this race has been the plan for some time and it wasn’t as if his performance in the Irish Cesarewitch was just a throwaway run anyway.
Eye-catching in the way he stayed on well in the latter stages to finish a never nearer eighth of the 30-strong field, it was an effort that would have no doubt delighted connections and although his exploits only managed to return 2k for his troubles, its surely all about the bigger picture.
Best known for his displays in some top-class novice hurdles last season, most notably when runner-up in the Grade 1 Champion Novice Hurdle at the Punchestown festival, the son of Zoffany is an easy one to recommend under today’s circumstances.
BAR 1 Betting 'Bet 10 Get 50' HandicapSee All Odds
6.30 DUNDALK
Some familiar names in this six-furlong handicap, but not that many in strikingly good form, and a chance is taken on CITY HOUSE reviving his seemingly flagging fortunes.
It wasn’t too far ago, the five-year-old was making hay out in Bahrain for George Scott, winning a couple of hugely competitive handicaps, and at the time, he was scaling the heady heights of a 105 rating.
Since then, the wheels have rather come off the son of Night Of Thunder but there have been some glimmers of hope in recent runs and his latest effort here just over a week ago suggested there might be some mileage in him back on this surface.
Drawn out on the wing in stall 12 in a seven-furlong handicap, Ado McGuiness’ inmate caught the eye with the amount of ground he made up during the backend of the contest and unsurprisingly, his final three-furlong sectionals worked out the best.
Despite that promising effort, he now finds himself on a mark of 81 and with the visor on for the first time seen as an application that could easily help rekindle the flame, he is worth a small interest to see whether he takes the bait.
Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf SprintSee All Odds
6.55 KEENELAND
A race in which the UK and Irish raiders have a fair record in recent times and the trend looks set to continue with the likes of Libertango, Moonrise and MUSSAB, making up a formidable taskforce against the locals.
Obviously, most will expect the former to come out on top, and it is hard to see her not putting up a bold bid as favourite based on the data she posted in finishing runner-up to the mighty Sun Goddess at Newmarket last time out.
However, this will be the first time she has gone around a bend at pace and whether odds around the 6-4 mark is seen as value all boils down to personal choice.
Richard & Peter Fahey’s inmate, on the other hand, looks to be significantly overpriced at 12-1 and he is worth a small interest to see whether he can cope with racing hard on his nearside fore.
On a roll of late, the son of Ten Sovereigns completed his hat trick in gutsy fashion at Newmarket last time out and although his hard-fought success might not seem all the flashy at first glance, a deeper delve into the dynamics of the race suggest it was a better performance that it seemed at the time.
Not only was the overall time figure very good, but he also managed to overcome (drawn 1) a massive track bias favouring those drawn middle to nearside of the course and having shown blistering speed and stamina in equal measures three weeks ago, he is likely to be more dangerous than his odds suggest.
