Andy Holding's Saturday Racing Tips

The London Gold Cup run at Newbury is always regarded as a race worth following and this year’s renewal is likely to prove no different based on the huge speed figure produced by the leading protagonists. THE TRADER (best price 4-1) is the one who flies the flag for that particular form line and he’s worth a decent interest following his excellent performance in defeat at the Berkshire venue despite today’s draw being a little cause for concern.

In a race which brought together a whole host of potentially smart and well-treated three-year-olds, Mark Johnston’s colt was presented with a mountain to climb as the field turned into the home straight and even though he didn’t manage to pull off mission impossible, he still came out of the race with great distinction being one of only two to make up any discernible headway of those that challenged off the pace up the un-favoured inside part of the track (other being Golden Birthday). Prior to that splendid effort, the son of Mastercraftsman had the misfortune to bump into the hugely gifted Fox Premier (won since) at Chelmsford and with today’s smaller field at least likely to provide him with a chance of getting himself into a better tactical position, he has the qualities to run a big race for his in-form yard.

Vivionn looks an improving filly who could still be some way ahead of the handicapper, but unsurprisingly she’s been well found in the market, whereas GEETANJALI (best price 12-1) has been slightly overlooked and for that reason she rates the value bet in the with and ‘without the favourite’ markets.

A four-time winner last season, Michael Bell’s filly didn’t take too long to get off the mark for this term when scoring on her latest outing at Leicester. In what became a tactical affair, the daughter of Roderic O’Connor did well to come from well off the pace to get up close home and with her backend sectionals working out a good deal quicker than stable mate Babbo’s Boy (rated 91) on the same card, she could prove troublesome to a few of her market rivals here tonight if running to the same level.

NJORD (best price 7-2) did incredibly well to win in the manner he did at Gowran last time out considering he gave away vital ground at the start, so even though the handicapper has tried his best to have some sort of say, the truth of the matter is that we still might be dealing with a fairly well-treated horse.

An eye-catcher the time before at Cork, Sheila Lavery’s colt was the subject of some heavy market support at the Kilkenny track once he sneaked in as first reserve and that good fortune wasn’t wasted as he landed the gamble in some style. Coming from way off the pace – which is never an easy thing to achieve at that particular track – the lightly-raced three-year-old exhibited a nice turn of foot inside the final two furlongs to win going away and with the time figure backing up the visual impression of the display, it would rather go against the grain to oppose this improving miler.

DOUBLE W’S (NAP) (best price 5-2) arrives here arguably in the form of his life and he’s strongly fancied to land a quick hat trick. Always held in high regard by connections, Ruth Jefferson’s gelding rather lost his way for couple of seasons but on the evidence of what we’ve seen since coming back to action after almost a year off, he’s certainly making up for lost time. A smooth winner at Perth off the back of a 351-day break, the nine-year-old defied a very slow start at Warwick last time out to score with a bit up his sleeve and with both time figures suggesting there was no fluke about either performance, another well-run affair is likely to bring about a similar outcome.