2.35 Dooley Insurances Cross Country Steeplechase
Josies Orders togs out just two days after his neck defeat to Auvergnat, when he gave everything. It is hardly ideal that he turns out again but he won this race in 2015, having also run in the La Touche Cup on the Thursday.
The Crafty Butcher is interesting. Willie Mullins has not quite put as much into the cross-country circuit as he did some years ago, but this horse could be good at it if he can bounce back to his best. Danny Mullins takes the ride, while the selection's stablemtae My Hometown reappears after an unfortunate fall on Thursday.
Selections: Josies Orders 11-8
3.10 Palmerstown House Pat Taaffe Handicap Steeplechase
This is a tortuously tough race and what little appeal it had as a betting medium is all the less considering there are only 15 runners and thus bad each-way terms.
Some Neck beat Up For Review at Gowran, is trained by Willie Mullins and open to progress chasing, so he has positives, but he ran a shocker at Limerick last time. He is the stable's only runner in the race, which is perhaps a reflection of his other possibilities being used elsewhere during a busy week!
Major Destination seems to have been kept for better ground but he may get away with this on his first spin since August. He rarely runs a bad race.
Selection: Some Neck 7-2
3.50 Irish Stallion Farms EBF Annie Power Mares Champion Hurdle
Likely Gordon Elliott thought this might be a key event as the wire approached in the title tussle, rather than it being an irrelevance in that regard – but that does not take anything away from a proper Grade One race for mares.
When Apple’s Jade and Benie Des Dieux clashed in March, Apple’s Jade was 1-2 favourite and the winner 9-2. That is a huge discrepancy, and given that it is fairly blatant that the favourite did not run her race, arguably they should not be pretty much the same price six weeks later.
Apple’s Jade looked to not be enjoying herself and guts probably got her to finish as close as she did. She is taken to bounce back to form and beat her old rival.
Can anything else count? Willie Mullins has seven runners in all, and with that man anything seems possible this week.
Selection: Apple’s Jade 11-8
4.25 AES Champion Four Year Old Hurdle
Willie Mullins has won this five years in a row, quite incredibly, and he is odds-on to bring the trophy home again – but with what horse? He accounts for two-thirds of the nine runners.
Saldier is a horse I have been following this year and, without hoping we go over the cliff, he is a big price at 20-1.
By Soldier Hollow, the sire of Arctic Fire, he was smart on the Flat in France and after winning a Gowran maiden it seemed as though the experience was just too much too soon at Cheltenham.
He was much more professional when third at Fairyhouse and should continue to improve.
Farclas and Mr Adjudicator have met twice, the score 1-1. There is very little between them but it will be interesting to see if Triumph faller Stormy Ireland can establish an easy lead, in which case she will not be easily passed. She had a horrible fall on that occasion, having run with the choke out.
Selection: Saldier 20-1
5.00 BoyleSports Handicap Steeplechase
Extremely tough for punters but Fletchers Flyer could be the one. Two years ago, he travelled easily and took this prize to Britain off a mark of 138, yet he is actually 8lb lower here – even if he has raced quite sparingly in the interim.
There is a chance that he has lost his way, but he was fresh off a break coming here two years ago and his penultimate run, at Sandown in December, was not too bad.
The obvious place to start is at the top with Isleofhopendreams, who went so close in the Irish National and is down in class here. However, that was a really tough race and he has top weight. Forever Gold, who was third, also takes his chance. Daklondike is another raider on the up who needs respect.
Selection: Fletchers Flyer 14-1
5.35 Ballymore Handicap Hurdle
Of the 28 declared here, including the reserves, Willie Mullins has 16 runners. It is quite incredible, and will surely have a lot of people wondering about the general state of Irish racing. Incidentally, the 14 who got in make this a record number in Irish racing.
This is another minefield. Flawless Escape was well-fancied at Cheltenham when disappointing; for him to bounce back would certainly be a player on his previous run behind the Mullins-trained Total Recall.
Mullins’ Bargy Lady is very interesting on her penultimate run but Spades Are Trumps gets the vote. The Gavin Cromwell-trained son of Yeats ran an abject race at Cork last time, which his trainer was mystified by; his Navan run prior to that was much more like it.
He should really relish stepping up in trip here. Mark Walsh takes the ride and, having beaten Paloma Blue in a maiden hurdle, this horse surely has scope to improve beyond this rating.
Selection: Spades Are Trumps 16-1
6.10 PDM (Pro/Am) Flat Race
The betting will be fascinating here. Perhaps it may be worth taking a chance on the horse running in the colours of Melbourne Cup hero Rekindling, Dlauro.
This one comes with a big reputation and remarkably big price tag here. A point-to-point debut winner at Belharbour last February when trained by Donnchadh Doyle, 11 days later he was bought for £410,000 at Cheltenham Sales.
Multifactorial is one to keep on side. By Stowaway, he is the first offspring of Zuzka, who took her place in racing history in 2012, winning at Leopardstown on New Year's Eve as Patrick Mullins smashed Billy Parkinson’s 1915 record of 72 winners by an amateur rider in a calendar year. Perhaps he can prove the answer here for Gordon Elliott.
Selection: Multifactorial 9-2
