Racing tips: Runaholic will be tough to beat if improving from debut

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Thursday turned out to be an okay day with one win, one place and one poor run. Boundless Ocean was given a very good ride by Kevin Manning. He took the initiative and got an easy lead, which let the horse settle better and made it difficult for the horses to come and pass him. Gild Edge managed to place if you did it with Bet365 like I advised. Bluegrass was simply not good enough, and his stamina over the new trip looked unsuitable.

Nottingham 3:55

A four-runner race, but a race which should produce a good level of form with every horse in the race looking progressive and better than their current handicap marks.

The one which I like is the Sir Michael Stoute horse, TERRA MITICA. There is a very good chance that Ryan Moore will be able to get an easy lead and ride the race to suit his mount. There are no stamina doubts for Terra Mitica, unlike the top-weight, Shaara. The form of Terra Mitica's recent win has been franked by the runner-up, Rousay. That horse has since won a Class 1 Listed race earlier this week in the race where I tipped up Climate. That run produced an RPR of 102 which bodes well for Terra Mitica who managed to beat her off level weights and won with a bit in hand.

Shaara won well last time around but wasn't exactly an improvement from what we've previously seen from her. The form of her recent win has worked out with the runner-up winning nicely since, but I have serious doubts over this extra 2f that she has to tackle today. She cruised into her race really nicely last time but didn't seem to be staying on that strongly at the line. Persist will appreciate this step up in trip, but the form doesn't look all that strong in comparison to the rest.

Newbury 4:10

For me, PERSIAN ROYAL should be the favourite in this contest, so the fact he isn't that makes him a decent bet. Ascending is the favourite, which would be the correct favourite in my eyes if the ground was soft or on the slow side, as his best form has come on that surface and hasn't come close to that on faster ground.

Persian Royal is running in this in an attempt to land the hat-trick and I think a new mark of 78 is definitely within reach. He was only put up 1lb for his recent win, which is effectively 2lb lower with the 3lb claimer taking the ride again. The run last time out was better than it looks at the first glance. It was a tactical affair, with Two Tempting setting a very slow pace, and Persian Royal managed to pick him off and win nicely in the end with more authority than the winning distance suggests.

Thirsk 7:15

RUNAHOLIC ran a belter at Glorious Goodwood in a Novice race on debut. Everything went wrong for him, but he still managed to run with plenty of credit and look like a horse who will be winning races in the future.

The calibre of horses in that race appears to be much better than in this race. The winner is well-regarded in the Andrew Balding yard and the second was very well-supported, and probably should've won if Pat Dobbs didn't keep hold of the horse for as long as he did.

I think the odds on offer for George Scott's son of El Kabeir are more than generous and could be tough to beat if improving from his debut run and breaks better from the gates.

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