Horse Racing Tips: Dor to fill his boots at Thurles

National Hunt racing dominates proceedings on Thursday and there are four meetings taking place across Britain and Ireland on the day. Thurles kicks us off with a seven-race card and is swiftly followed by Taunton, Musselburgh and Lingfield.

Among our three horse racing tips for the afternoon is a Gordon Elliott-trained chaser in Thurles' feature race who should benefit significantly from his fitness advantage over the Willie Mullins battalion.

12:40 Thurles - Fil Dor @ 2/1

Willie Mullins has launched a three-pronged attack on Thurles’ Listed feature race but Gordon Elliott’s runner FIL DOR is expected to come out on top here. 

He began the season with a solid second behind Saint Sam at Clonmel earlier this month and is entitled to improve for the run.

The extended 2m6f trip here is the furthest the six-year-old has ever gone but his half-brother won over 2m6f and his dam is half-sister to Gold Cup winner A Plus Tard.

He was an excellent juvenile hurdler back in the day and National Hunt breeds who graduate through that sphere tend to stay well as they get older.

Elliott’s gelding hasn’t won a race since getting the better of Sharjah in a Grade 3 two-mile hurdle back in February 2023 but a return to the winners’ enclosure should be on the agenda sooner rather than later.

Willie Mullins' three runners are all making their first starts of the season and lots of his horses are needing their runs at this stage of the campaign. With that in mind, the fact that Fil Dor has a fitness advantage here could be the difference maker.

13:25 Taunton - Super Sabre Sam @ 11/2

Neil Mulholland’s runner SUPER SABRE SAM could be the one to side with in this 2m3f handicap hurdle, as he’s making his first start in handicap company and managed to get off the mark in good style when last seen.

He was in the process of outrunning his huge odds of 66/1 before falling at the last over course and distance in December. The five-year-old could only manage sixth when back her again next time but four of the first six home have all won since.

We then didn’t see him until last month, where he ran out a comfortable winner at Fontwell over this trip. The jury’s out on how strong that form is but he did it nicely and the switch to handicaps should facilitate further progress.

An opening mark of 113 certainly looks reasonable and it would be a surprise if there wasn’t more to come. 

14:45 Musselburgh - Kandor @ 4/1

KANDOR showed some reasonable form in novice hurdles and managed to win one over 2m4f at Perth in July. Lucinda Russell’s five-year-old then finished second to a smart horse of John McConnell’s under a penalty at Kelso and was well clear of the third.

A little disappointing on handicap debut at Hexham in October, connections decided to give the gelding wind surgery after that. It’s hard to know what to make of his chase debut as he fell at the 13th and was by no means beaten at the time.

A better jumping display will be required here but this looks like a very winnable race and he has the most scope for improvement amongst the eight-runner field.

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