Anglo Irish Bank Tolworth Hurdle Betting tips

The Anglo Irish Bank Tolworth Hurdle takes centre stage at Sandown on Saturday, the most valuable of six races on what is a highly competitive card. The one to be on in this Grade 1 contest is the Paul Webber-trained De Soto, who is a best-priced 3/1 with Ladbrokes at the time of writing. The six-year-old, who was beaten a neck by Missed That in the 2005 Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival, put himself firmly in the picture for another Festival race, the Supreme Novices' Hurdle, when outpointing Blythe Spirit and Kicks For Free in an above average heat at Kempton's Christmas meeting. Although the ground will be far more testing and the track more stamina-sapping at Sandown on Saturday, connections of the son of Hernando believe that these combined factors will not inconvenience him in the least - indeed, it is thought that a stiffer stamina test and plenty of juice in the ground is what the gelding is crying out for. De Soto is a slick hurdler and his strong cruising speed will enable him to hold his position in what I envisage will be a tactical affair. Astarador is likely to cut out the running but the principals, which includes the selection, My Turn Now, Perce Rock and Silverburn, will all be sitting handy under their respective jockeys, and it will be interesting to see who plays their hand first. I am hoping that Mick Fitzgerald will take the initiative and get first run on his rivals because, as De Soto showed after taking up the running halfway through the race at Kempton last time he is a tough horse to pass. Although they all merit respect, none of the aforementioned trio have done enough to suggest that they can outpoint De Soto. It is, therefore, surprising that De Soto is available at 3/1. Ladbrokes actually make Paul Nicholls' Silverburn market leader, which has left me perplexed. The horse he beat at Newbury last time, Tagula Blue, did frank the form when scoring next time, but Silverburn was receiving 5lb from that rival and, in any case, needs to find a good deal of improvement to take a race of this nature. My Turn Now is going from strength-to-strength and is my idea of the biggest threat to De Soto. Irish raider Perce Rock will relish the underfoot conditions and has the valuable assistance of AP McCoy in the saddle. However, while he could do no more than win cosily on his hurdling bow at Gowran Park last month, the second, third and fifth have all let the form down since. Furthermore, this is just Perce Rock's second start over timber and going from a weak maiden hurdle to a hot Grade 1 is a huge step up. Verdict - 2pts De Soto @ 3/1 (Ladbrokes)