Racing tips: Strong stayer Destiny Is All will excel now tackling marathon trips

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Spirit D'Aunou was a 2pt winner on Saturday. He didn't win in the style I was expecting, but the runner-up was well-fancied after being backed in from 20/1 to 5/1, so he probably beat the correct horse.

The next two who ran were probably culprits of running from the rear of the field, which was never the thing to do at Sandown on soft ground yesterday, so I wouldn't give up on the pair of them just yet.

Upton Road didn't quite stay the 3m trip on a stiff track like Sandown, but maybe back to 3m on a flatter track will be perfect for him. He jumped brilliantly and travelled nicely, but didn't find anything when jumping the last and didn't have enough to get a place.

Limerick 2:15 – Hauturiere 7/4 (1pt)

I understand that Mares Graded races can be quite weak, as generally, the Mares division is often a lot weaker than the males, but this race looks very weak on paper for a Grade 3, especially in Ireland. For me, HAUTURIERE has very good claims of winning this, and the only way I see her beat is if Harmonya Maker gets a ridiculous uncontested lead and doesn't see another rival.

Hauturiere is Willie Mullins' main fancy in this, as you can tell by the jockey bookings, but also the recent form suggests she has the best chance of the pair. Lto around, Eabha Grace was meant to be their main charge with Paul Townend in the saddle, but she bombed out. I don't think that was a true showing, but if I'm honest, I don't think she is that good a horse anyway. I think this trip of 2m 6f will bring out improvement for Hauturiere. She is a horse who looks like a stayer and tends to do her best work in the final furlong over shorter trips, so this extra distance is surely going to be better suited.

Over the last couple of runs, she has not got the best trip by her jockey. They have often to challenge four or five horses wide around the final bend, giving away crucial ground. Though I don't think this is a strong race, they can't afford to keep doing that. They got away with it last time around, as her stamina came into play, but surely Danny Mullins will want her to sit closer to the pace in this and take the shortest route possible.

I mentioned Harmonya Maker at the beginning. She recorded an RPR of 140 last time around, which is the highest in this field, but she beat a bunch of Blackpool donkeys, to put it bluntly, so that RPR seems very inflated. Rioga Choice is closely matched with Hautriere on the last run, but she had a better run around and I think the extra furlong goes against her if she wants to reverse the form. In races like this, you do see potential improvers from those who are much lower rated, but I don't think they are particularly great.

Warwick 3:00 – Haute Estime 7/2 (1pt)

I've got a soft spot for HAUTE ESTIME when this mare finished 3rd in the Grade 1 over 3m at Aintree last spring when tipped up at 100/1. After that run, I thought she'd progress into a nice chaser but it hasn't quite gone as expected, but she's on a tempting mark and one which she can take full advantage of.

I thought her latest run at Carlisle was a decent effort and though she was beaten by 12L, she went through the race a lot smoother than the ones before and was in the picture before 2 out. The handicapper has dropped her 3lbs for that run, putting her on a mark of 125, but an extra 7lbs is removed with young Patrick Wadge sitting in the saddle. Both Patrick and Lucinda Russell are in tremendous form of late, with Patrick winning 4 of his last 11 rides and Lucinda recording 8 wins in the past fortnight. Lucinda doesn't send many down south, especially Warwick with only two runners here in the last five years (Corach Rambler) and nine in her training career. They clearly feel like this is a winnable race, to travel from Scotland.

I don't think this race is that great. La Domaniale hasn't run in 206 days and was kept to summer ground, probably for a reason. Jonjo's horses aren't in great form as I was told the other day, and that is a concern. Midnight Mary has to bounce back to form after a pretty poor performance at this track last time. Walk In Clover might struggle considering she can take a pull, which isn't ideal on soft ground and the other two have even more to prove.

Warwick 4:10 – Destiny Is All 7/2 (2pt)

I'll be hoping that Lucinda Russell has a very good day at Warwick, as I've gone for both of her runners at the track, with DESTINY IS ALL hopefully doing the business over this marathon trip.

I doubt you will remember this lad being a tip back in December, but he was and he finished 3rd. After the race, on my social media, I tweeted along the lines “he needs further, 3m 4f should be the perfect trip for him”. Since that race, he had a run at Carlisle last month, over 3m and once again he looked in need of further. He was positioned towards the rear, given near mission impossible to win, but he tried his heart out and finished 2nd by a head.

Today, they have decided to put him up in trip to 3m 5f, which should be perfect for him. He's not a quick horse, but when he does hit top gear he does do very well, and combining this trip with soft ground, he could be the one to stop Volcano from winning this race for the third year in a row.

Warwick 5:20 – Ten Lengths Tom 3/1 (1pt)

Late money was around for TEN LENGTHS TOM at Sandown in the early days of February, and you can see why. Though he didn't manage to get the win that day, he ran with plenty of promise and looked in need of the run.

He was beaten into second place by 6.5L, but that doesn't tell the full story as the winner looks like a really nice horse for the Nicholls stable, so to finish second to that kind of horse is a great start to this horse's career. He was off the pace, made up some serious ground, and was the only horse to make up the ground behind the winner.

With him being a 4yo he gets in this kind of race off a very low weight. His pedigree suggests the testing ground will be okay for him, and with Tom Lacey doing well this year, especially his bumper horses, he looks like a good bet.

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