Ross Millar: Monday horse racing tips and weekend wrap

I’m sure most jump racing fanatics will feel, as I do, that the most enjoyable race of the weekend was the Veterans' Final on Saturday.

There are few better sights in racing than a bold front-runner attacking the Railway fences and Alex Edwards was excellent on Wishing And Hoping, setting perfect fractions from the front as they galloped to a heart-warming victory up the stamina-sapping Sandown hill. In a race confined to veterans you would fancy your chances of knowing all about each runner, but amusingly my notes about Wishing And Hoping read “best on flat, left handed track, appreciates better ground”. Horses – they never stop surprising you!

Saturday’s Grade One offering was the Tolworth Hurdle, won in commanding fashion by the Paul Nicholls-trained Tahmuras.

After the race connections mooted the Supreme Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham as his main spring target, suggesting that they thought he was developing more speed as he progressed with each race. Personally I’m always wary of such theories when the apparent increase in speed has come in a race run on testing ground at a stiff track and conversely I felt it was his stamina that saw him prevail on Saturday. As such, he would make marginally more appeal to me if he were to line up in the Ballymore at the Festival, though of course that is an unlikely scenario given Nicholls already has a live contender for that in Hermes Allen. Time will tell, but my initial inclination is that this wasn’t a high-class renewal of the Tolworth Hurdle.

The action centred around Naas on Sunday where Appreciate It was a ready winner of his second chase start. It was a performance that didn’t tell us anything that we didn’t already know, though I’m sure he pleased connections with another composed round of jumping and he has gained yet more valuable racecourse experience.

Champ Kiely put a poor run in the Royal Bond behind him as he looked a reformed character under the increasingly impressive Danny Mullins when winning the Grade One Lawlor’s Of Naas Novice Hurdle. It was unfortunate that the hurdles up the home straight were removed, as the ability (or lack of) to jump under pressure can often be so revealing in novice contests. He is another who would have legitimate claims if being targeted at the Ballymore at Cheltenham, though you can be sure that plans for Willie Mullins' novice hurdle battalion are ultra fluid at this stage.

Monday delivers jump action from Ayr and Taunton live on Racing TV. I have three selections from the West Country track.

1.25 Taunton: Robin’s Dream

This should be competitive despite just four runners.

Cap Du Mathan has winning course form and will also enjoy the soft ground but he is yet to win from a mark this high and may need some respite from the handicapper, while Call Of The Wild didn’t jump fluently prior to unseating Tom Cannon on chase debut. Likely outsider Earth Company will surely be seen to better effect when getting better ground than this.

Robin’s Dream gets the nod and, while he will have to prove his fitness after a 588-day spell away from the track, Gary Moore is enjoying a good season with plenty of winners and the yard is more than capable of having one ready after a long lay-off.

Robin’s Dream will be well suited by the soft ground and his single strongest piece of form came when finishing second in a novice hurdle at Wincanton on his penultimate start nearly two years ago, beaten just a neck by the now 127-rated Balko Saint to who he was conceding 13lb. The pair were over 20 lengths clear of the 132-rated Earth Lord.

Providing he jumps proficiently on chasing debut, a reproduction of that form should make him capable of winning this.

3.00 Taunton: The Pink’n

Lady Adare is sure to be popular here but with all of her form coming on good ground the softer conditions may not suit – indeed, she has previously been a non-runner on account of soft ground. At a bigger price I like top-weight The Pink’n.

He hasn’t been seen over hurdles for 737 days but does arrive here with the benefit of a recent spin on the all-weather where he was never able to get competitive having started slowly.

The Pink’n has winning form on soft ground and has delivered some competitive efforts in a far higher grade than this. His two standout pieces of form - when runner-up to Botox Has at Cheltenham and then Floressa at Newbury early in the 2020/21 campaign - strongly suggest that he is better than a mark of 131.

I’m expecting this to be run at a strong pace which should help this keen-going sort to settle and, providing he does, I’d be hopeful that he’s capable of going very close.

3.35 Taunton: Tintern Abbey

Her opening mark on handicap debut could well have underestimated her ability.

Tintern Abbey starts off with a more than fair looking mark of just 99, while a further 7lb is removed by Jay Tidball. The claimer knows this mare well, having ridden her in both previous hurdle starts.

Her debut over hurdles was a decent effort as she finished third, beaten six lengths by the now 118-rated Poetic Music and five lengths by the now 113-rated Dollar Bae. That run alone makes her of interest off this opening mark, but it’s actually her follow-up run at Wincanton that interests me most.

I’m sure in time that this maiden hurdle will work out as an above average heat. The winner Ebonello looked visually impressive, while the runner-up Passionate Pursuit looked a likely winner before falling on her next start. Rosy Redrum, a high-class bumper performer, finished third and she too was running with real promise before similarly falling late on at Newbury on her next start.

Tintern Abbey has already shown winning form in a bumper and, as long as she is fit and ready after her short break, she can collect this prize.