Simon Holt weekend tips for Wolverhampton
Simon Holt has three selections on the Flat at Wolverhampton as he previews the pick of the weekend action.
Recommended bets
1.5pts win Goring in 1.35 Wolverhampton at 14/1
With Sandown's Imperial Cup card failing to beat the weather, attention turns to a decent all-weather card at Wolverhampton where CARDSHARP could be worth a play in the Listed Bombardier British Hopped Amber Beer Lady Wulfruna Stakes.
Mark Johnston's five-year-old, who is joined in the field by stable-companions Blown By Wind and Marie's Diamond, was beaten a length and a short-head in this race last year and is one of three contenders this time who appear to dominate on official ratings.
After winning a decent handicap at York last May, Cardsharp's mark rose to 111 but, after two subsequent unplaced efforts in the Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot and the Group Three Criterion Stakes at Newmarket, he was dropped back to 109.
That stills puts him second best at the weights behind Gulliver who took a big hike for winning on a very different surface at Southwell and comes here after finishing fourth in Qatar just a fortnight ago.
In turn, Cardsharp is rated 1lb ahead of the reappearing Urban Icon who makes his all-weather debut. Richard Hannon's highly-regarded colt, the mount of Ryan Moore, could be hard to beat if reproducing his fourth place in the Jersey Stakes last season but failed to win in a truncated campaign and, at the likely prices, may not represent too much value.
With question marks hanging over his main rivals, Cardsharp need only run to a similar level as he did here last year to go two places better under Adam Kirby, who rides him for the first time and has a 20% wins-to-rides strike rate for Johnston.
Earlier, all-weather specialist GORING looks sure to go close in the Bombardier Golden Beer Lincoln Trial Handicap.
This admirable eight-year-old has been a star for the Eve Johnson Houghton team and can improve on his eighth place in this race last year when he lost his place early on from a low draw and was then forced to switch and challenge very wide.
Now with a wider berth, Goring comes into the race in arguably better form this time having quickened up impressively to score at Lingfield two weeks ago, and the likelihood of a strong gallop courtesy of Arcanada, Pinnata and Red Bond could set things up nicely for Charlie Bishop's fast-finishing mount.
In the Heed Your Hunch At Betway Handicap, the former-William Haggas-trained DEPUTISE looks interesting on his second start for Michael Wigham, who does well with cast-offs from other yards.
Bought for 40,000 guineas last autumn, the son of Kodiac made an encouraging start for new connections when keeping on well into third behind Fizzy Feet at Lingfield eight days ago.
Rated 101 at his peak and now down to 95, Deputise can be expected to build on that effort and returns to a course at which he is unbeaten in two previous visits.
Moreover, any near reproduction of his short-head second to the subsequently Group Three-placed, French-trained Transcendent on all-weather finals day at Lingfield just over a year ago (with the re-opposing Concierge nearly five lengths away in fifth) would surely make him hard to beat.
Booked rider Franny Norton won aboard Deputise at Chester in July 2018, the only time he has ridden the selection.
Posted at 1400 GMT on 06/03/20
CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL COUNTDOWN: Don't miss out on the latest Cheltenham Festival build-up. We'll have all the best content from some of the leading stables in Britain and Ireland, plus countdown videos, podcasts and the very best analysis from our team of experts.
Related horse racing links
- Sky Bet's Cheltenham Festival odds
- Cheltenham Festival guide
- Cheltenham Festival tips
- Cheltenham Festival news
- All today's racecards
- Today's fast results
- Today's full results
- Non-runners
- Today's goings
- Today's Naps table
Responsible gambling
We are committed in our support of responsible gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
Sky Bet's responsible gambling tools are detailed here and if you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133, or visit begambleaware.org.