Ireland's Eye on Thursday

Thursday 2 July

IRELAND'S EYE 

We return to the ‘happy hunting ground’ of Perth today where there could be more Irish success and a former pointer/hunter chaser off a low weight could prove ‘the ticket’ in a handicap chase and there could be value in siding with a course winner in a handicap hurdle at Bellewstown where Ruby Walsh makes his eagerly awaited return to action.
 
July started in excellent style yesterday when we managed 4 out of 4 in our selections at Perth and Fairyhouse with winners at 11/1, 11/2, 4/1 and evens following the unfortunate abandonment of Worcester. That was following up a 5 out of 5 last week and all in all we have given ourselves the perfect start to the month. Our choice in the featured handicap chase at Perth was the snug winner Crozan at 11/1 who beat one of our savers Marufo (9-8/1) and he was following our winning savers in Posh Lady (7-11/2) in the opener and Paperchaser (7-4/1) ninety minutes later. In addition our first lay of the month Boragh Princess (3/1) could only manage third in the mares maiden hurdle whilst our nap Bankrobber (evens) scored well in the Fairyhouse opening event.

An extended 2m 4f handicap chase at Perth at 4-20 sees four Irish challengers with Gordon Elliott responsible for two in the shape of The Rocking Dock and He’s A Hotshot. The last named failed to shine yesterday despite boasting three placings from as many runs at this track in the past and The Rocking Dock could find it difficult to overturn a 7 length beating at the hands of another of todays rivals Go Silver Bullet on just 3lbs better terms and in addition he has not won at further than two miles and one. The last named must hold definite prospects of following up his course win last time over the optimum trip but the bold grey looks set to make a bold bid from the front for the Lucinda Russell yard but he could be vulnerable at the trip though the ground looks ideal. We will side however with the David Christie trained useful pointer/hunter chaser Royal Ranger off a low weight as the 10yo is well suited by good or better ground and the 11 time point winner and hunter chase scorer (over 2m 6f) will have the assistance of Graham Lee. Though he proved no match for The Fox’s Frolic in a Stradbally open on latest there was plenty of merit in his second to the highly progressive subsequent handicap chaser Paddy Pub in a Down Royal 2m 7f hunter chase on yielding ground on third last start. His main danger could come from the Tony Martin trained Another Ambition who looked the likely winner when toppling at the last in a fast run Clonmel novice chase over 2m 1f on just his third start over fences with Tony McCoy in the plate. However he would be better suited by slightly easier ground and it is not always wise to side with last time out fallers next time out – especially if the price is likely to be cramped.
 
Lady Sambury, Heckley Foxtrot and Dukeofchesterwood finished second, third and fourth respectively in a Hexham 3m hc hurdle in late May and that contest looks to hold the key to a similar contest at Perth this afternoon at 4-50. The fitting of cheekpieces has resulted in some improved showings from the Normile runner Heckley Foxtrot who finished third on that occasion whilst Lady Sambury does possess that important ingredient – the happy knack of knowing how to win and the three time winning 8yo mare is just 5lbs higher here following her narrow defeat to Doris’s Gift on that occasion with Heckley Foxtrot (now a pound better off for 3/4L) in third. However the fourth finisher on that occasion, namely Dukeofchesterwood was only just behind in fourth on that occasion when fancied ‘at the books’ and must hold decent prospects also for the Forster yard with promising 3lb claimer Ryan Mania on board and he just gets the nod to beat Heckley Foxtrot as he gets an 8lb pull with Lady Sambury for a two and a half length defeat at Hexham over this trip in early May.
 
Champion point to point rider Derek O’Connor and Tony Martin will be combining forces to land the one mile and six qualified riders handicap at Bellewstown this evening at 6-45 with the dual hurdle winner Equator. This fellow looked somewhat unlucky not to finish closer when staying on to take a close third in a Leopardstown 2 mile handicap on his penultimate outing having been shut off at a vital stage and though his subsequent effort in failing to give Rajik 13lbs in a similar Gowran handicap looked somewhat disappointing at that juncture the facile success of the winner at Tipperary put the form in a better light. The Gordon Elliott trained Desert Storm scored twice on the flat over two miles for Rae Guest on good and soft and subsequently was runner up over similar trips in a hurdle and chase for Phillip Hobbs and he must enter calculations with Nina Carberry on board. However the vote goes to the unexposed Harry Rogers trained 4yo Solo Performer who has the assistance of a useful 7lb claimer and the dual Dundalk all weather winner must have prospects on a line through Rajik who finished three lengths in front of him in a Navan 1m 5f apprentice handicap when in receipt of 5lbs.
 
Former point/flat and hurdle winner Our Monty did us a favour when overcoming adversity in landing a Downpatrick novice chase over an extended 2m 7f eighteen days ago having shown a decent level of form ‘between the flags’ and a top hunter chase this season. The Gavin Cromwell trained 6yo scored his sole success during a relatively light hurdling campaign over 2m 1f at this venue in 2007 following a runner up placing over the same trip/track some two months previously and now runs off a mark 2lbs higher. Having shown his ability to get three miles in points/hunter chase recently the Tom Doyle ridden gelding should be supported to land the 3m hc hurdle at Bellewstown at 7-20 where the Charles Byrne trained Third Level Tom rates an obvious danger under Davy Russell. A dual winner over hurdles as well as fences he has been running well in taking third spots in recent Tipperary and Down Royal handicap hurdles up to this trip and is suited by the forecast good ground. There are a couple of others to consider here and the most interesting at generous odds is the Shane Broderick former point winner All Noble who admittedly has been below par recently during abortive spins over fences but he will be suited by the ground and rates a place bet at least under 3lb claimer Johnny Levins.
 
ADVICE
4pt win ROYAL RANGER 4-20 Perth
2pt win (saver) ANOTHER AMBITION 4-20 Perth
3pt win DUKEOFCHESTERWOOD 4-50 Perth
1pt win (savers) HECKLEY FOXTROT and LADY SAMBURY 4-50 Perth
4pt win SOLO PERFORMER 6-45 Bellewstown
2pt win (saver) EQUATOR 6-45 Bellewstown
4pt win (nap) OUR MONTY 7-20 Bellewstown
2pt win 1pt win (savers) THIRD LEVEL TOM and ALL NOBLE 7-20 Bellewstown

We are now recording the daily profit and loss of Ireland's Eye to help readers gauge the current form of the service. We will provide the profit / loss on the previous day to a £1 level stake on each selection (eg: a 5 point bet = a £5 stake). In the interests of consistency the profit / loss will be recorded at SP prices, however BETDAQ users can reasonably expect to beat SP in the majority of races.

Wednedsay's Return was: PROFIT 45.66 points