Skip to main content

Punchestown Day Two

What an opening day we had at the Punchestown festival! Chacun Pour Soi was back to his spectacular best in the Champion Chase. One can only wonder if they had decided to be more aggressive at Cheltenham, would the result have been different. Echoes In Rain was very impressive in the Novice Hurdle. I think she could be a dark horse for the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham next year. I really like her. While we didn’t get the clash we were anticipating in the Grade 1 Novice Chase, Colreevy deserves unbelievable credit. What a tough mare she is! I wonder if the owner’s are regretting covering her? I am sure the foal will be worth a few quid all the same!!

There is plenty of quality ahead of us tomorrow once again. While it is a pity that Minella Indo was withdrawn from the Gold Cup, we have a small but select field. Al Boum Photo, who went down fighting in his attempt at history in March, sets the standard. However, it was a hard race at Cheltenham and I prefer his stablemate Kemboy who disappointed at Cheltenham but won this race two years ago. On that occasion, he beat his stablemate who had won the Gold Cup that season and his form this season has been rock solid apart from the Cheltenham blip. He only gave way to A Plus Tard late on at Leopardstown at Christmas before winning impressively back there at the Dublin Racing Festival. I think he is underestimated and looks the clear value to me. Clan Des Obeaux looked right back to his best at Aintree last time as did Fakir Doudairies but I am dubious about the strength of the Aintree form in terms of this week. Fakir is interesting stepping up to 3 miles for the first time, as he shapes like he will stay and of the two, I see him as a bigger danger. I would have Kemboy challenging his stablemate for favouritism and would consider him a bet at 3/1 so the 4/1 on offer looks very generous.

I was interested in Galopin Des Champs in the Novice Hurdle and backed him earlier today but his price has collapsed and I will tentatively pass at tipping him at 9/4. He was very impressive at Cheltenham and this trip could eek out even more improvement. He has usurped Vanillier as favourite, possibly as a result of the red-hot stable form and momentum from their huge Tuesday. I am not sure about the Albert Bartlett form just yet. Vanillier looked like a world-beater on that occasion but it is never a race to take literally when it comes to the form book and I need more evidence that he is as good as he looked on that occasion. In any case, I am not sure this track will suit as he looks an out and out galloper. Telmesomethinggirl did us a big favour at Cheltenham but steps up dramatically in trip. I am not sure I have ever thought she would be suited to three miles but Henry knows a lot more than I do. When all is said and done I am happy to swerve the race.

I am really looking forward to the rematch in the Bumper and hope it doesn’t disappoint. It was one of the best race of the Festival and I think it could be just as close again. I slightly favour Sir Gerhard on this speedier test but I won’t be having a bet. Nothing else really stood out on the remainder of the card. I had a good look at the handicap chase but couldn’t settle on one so it is just the one bet on Wednesday.


1pt win Kemboy (4/1 General) Punchestown 5.55

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Royal Ascot Day 2

What an amazing day of racing we witnessed yesterday, sheer quality from start to finish. Personally, for me the highlight was Baatash winning the Kings Stand and putting the "myth" about Ascot to bed. There was no shame in being beaten by Blue Point a couple of times but he thoroughly deserved a win at the Royal meeting. For a horse that has achieved so much, I wonder if perhaps he doesn't get the credit he deserves? A debate for another day perhaps as today's card has taken quite a lot of time to go through! Again, my initial thought for day two is proceed with caution. There are a host of difficult handicaps with any amount of potentially well-handicapped horses and the Group races on the card offer little respite in terms of difficulty level. Addeybb would be a strong fancy if the rain arrives in time but to back him now would be guessing. The trendy horse for the day is clearly Ranch Hand for the concluding handicap at 4.40. I don't pay too much attention to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Irish Grand National Day

The Irish Grand National is the highlight of day three and indeed the entire weekend of the Easter Festival and as one would expect it looks a very competitive affair. More thoughts on that later but the two Grade 2s preceding the big race caught my eye from a betting point of view. They both had short enough favourites that I thought were beatable with a relatively small field and a couple of standout dangers to choose from.  The withdrawal of Beacon Edge has meant that the price of French Dynamite is now much shorter than it was previously in the Grade 2 hurdle at 3.50 and for that reason I am (just about) willing to let him run. The Bosses Oscar is now the clear favourite and perhaps justifiably so, but I think the price difference between the two is too big. French Dynamite has his ideal conditions here and he has run to a very high level when getting his optimum conditions in the past. He actually beat the The Bosses Oscar at Thurles last year and while there is a 7lb swing in...
Post a Comment
Read more

Arc Day at Parislongchamp

 While we may be more familiar with Irish and UK classics from a geographical point of view, the Arc is the best flat race in the world from a ratings perspective. The fact that we have what has been widely touted as the best Arc in a long time tells you all you need to know about the quality of today's field. From the moment she crossed the line in second in the Irish Champion Stakes I felt Tarnawa would win and nothing since has changed my mind, even though I am not as definitive as I was then. She has a good draw and should cope with conditions. The problem is that while she is in a stall that you want to be in, she will require luck in running and it is a large field of horses to get through, enhancing the possibility of traffic problems.  I think the winner will come from one of those at the top of the market and the two Godolphin representatives head those along with Snowfall. The draw and the conditions have brought Hurricane Lane right into it and he has replaced Tarna...
Post a Comment
Read more