Ireland's Eye on Wednesday

Wednesday 1 July

IRELAND'S EYE 

Today is a busy day for us with afternoon National Hunt meetings at Worcester and Perth while the first Irish action of the week takes place at Fairyhouse on the flat this evening. In our quest to continue the success during June we will be siding with an Irish raider in the first at Perth while at the same venue 2 longer priced horses can do the business in handicaps.
 
Though yesterday proved a losing day to finish June the month as a whole proved most profitable with 50 winners up to 11/1 and a profit of nearly 90 points to SP and in addition we managed to land 7 of our 9 lays during that period and we also cashed in on a couple of BETDAQ MULTIBETS to ‘sweeten the pot’ at decent prices. Liam Burke’s assault on Stratford yielded a double yesterday with his King Keano landing a right old ‘touch’ in the opener at the expense of our selections Penyfan Dawn (5/1) who managed a close third whilst our first choice Consulate (8-6/1) blundered away his chances. Cheeky Lad (7-6/1) could only manage a poor third while Burke also ‘upset the applecart’ when his Surenaga easily disposed of our nap PACHA D’OUDAIRIES (13/8-5/4) in the novice chase.

The opening mares maiden hurdle at Perth looks in essence a contest which could be staged at Navan or Leopardstown as the Irish are responsible for all bar 4 of the 16 runners in this 2m 4 1/2f mares maiden hurdle. Jessica Harrington is doubly represented with likely favourite Boragh Princess and Lough Coyne with the former showing ability over this trip last time in taking fourth berth in a competitive Wexford maiden over a similar distance. However the yards Lough Coyne could be the better bet of the two here as she boasts decent bumper form and showed that she is coming back to her best last time in a Down Royal 2m maiden hurdle though the step up in distance is an unknown. Nevertheless our vote goes to the former flat winner Riverscape from the Gordon Elliott yard who shaped with promise on her hurdle debut five weeks ago when taking a fair third in a Punchestown 2m maiden on soft and the better ground here could be to her benefit in addition to the step up in distance. Ian Fergusons Posh Lady also enters calculations as she is guaranteed to stay the trip having lost out narrowly to subsequent winner Tubber Gael Holly over this trip in a Ballinrobe handicap last year and showed that a return to form is imminent when not beaten that far in a competitive Down royal affair on her return from over a year off the course recently.
 
The 3m novice hurdle at Worcester at 2-40 offers the David Burchell mare Ring For Time an excellent opportunity to make it a double under William Kennedy. The six year old fairly bolted in when scoring in style at Stratford over an extended 2m 6f and there are plenty of question marks against her main rivals here. The former Eugene O’Sullivan trained On You Go disappointed on his first run since a layoff over six weeks ago but the former point/chase winner is suited by decent ground and should not be dismissed here though the J P McManus owned 8yo has always looked more at home over a slightly shorter journey. Former English point winner Silver Story could prove best over a less demanding trip also despite finishing a modest runner up to an ex decent flat sort in Baddam on his penultimate start. Converti showed all the right qualities when upsetting the long odds on favourite Khumbu at in a course and distance maiden last time under his 10lb claimer David Bass and is another to consider.
 
There is a tidy field to contest the novice handicap chase over an extended 2m 4f at Perth this afternoon at 3-50 but nevertheless looks an open contest. Dual point winner He’s A Hotshot has yet to register a win on the track and finished runner up in a similar course and distance contest while the Mickey Hammond trained Trafalgar Man is chasing a three timer following his most recent success at Hexham in a 2m hc chase but he he remains unproven over the distance. Towards the bottom of the handicap the Lucinda Russell trained Alagon ran well enough on his debut over 2m on this track seven weeks ago when finishing third behind easy winner in a two mile handicap hurdle while bottom weight Paperchaser also enters calculations on his second in a Hexham handicap chase over a similar trip last time.
 
There is a trio of Irish challengers in the 3m handicap chase at Perth at 4-20 with All Rise, Fakima and Kells Castle representing Tracey Kerr, Tony Martin and Gordon Elliott respectively. The first named may be a veteran but he relishes a sound surface and is in fine form and made all to beat a fellow 12yo in Catch The Perk at Hexham over 3m 1f last time while Fakima (Tony Martin) is on a fair mark but is making his seasonal bow under Paddy Brennan under Paddy Brennan. Though Gordon Elliott’s bottom weight has a 7lb claimer on board he has been somewhat disappointing of late, despite showing consistency. Peter Bowen is doubly represented here with Iron Man who has not shown much of late but is a summer horse while the decent hunter chaser Mr Ed does have prospects but his jumping sometimes leaves something to be desired. The recent winners in the field include Shannon Springs whose recent defeat of Pache D’Oudairies was not upheld by the runner in a novice chase last night while Marufo must have claims despite having fortune on his side when scoring at Southwell over 3m 2f last time. Chris Grants course and distance winner Ngong Hills is on the trail of a three timer following his final success over two and three quarter miles at Wetherby some five weeks ago. The solution may lie with the Sue Smith trained Crozan who admittedly not reached the heights anticipated since his earlier days when       but off a reasonable mark here and Tjade Collier taking off 3lbs he may prove too strong for Marufo and Fakima.
 
Dan Ryan will be fancied to make it a hat trick for the David Pipe yard in the concluding 2m 7f hc chase at Worcester at 4-40 having made all to score by a wide margin from modest opposition over 2f less at Newton Abbot eight days ago. However the handicapper has put up the 9yo 7lbs for that win and though that may not look overly taxing there are a couple in the line up who could stand in his way. Liam Burke who enjoyed a fine evening at Stratford yesterday could have prospects with the veteran Berkley who handles good ground and on the evidence of his recent point form and his modest second to the enigmatic Freneys Well over 3m 1f over banks at Punchestown two months ago he does not look a ‘back number’ quite yet. However the answer to the contest may be the Johnjo O’Neill trained Olay Olay who has seemed unsuited by trips in excess of three mile of late and the drop back in distance here under Tony McCoy could just prove ‘the ticket’ off a fair mark. Tim Vaughan’s 11yo course and distance scorer Caribbean Cove off a low weight could prove a viable alternative under Richard Johnson as he may have needed the outing on his first start for almost three years when finishing a fair sixth to All Rise at Hexham about a month ago.
 
Racing opens at Fairyhouse tonight at 6-00 and the curtain raiser looks on paper to be a two horse contest between the more exposed Aidan O’Brien Reggae Dancer and the twice raced Bankrobber in this 6f maiden. The latter is from the Wachman yard and the son of Catcher In The Rye has improved with every run and there was plenty of merit in his decent second to another O’Brien runner in Emperor Claudius over course and distance a month ago and the winner has done his bit with a fine second in the Chesham Stakes at Ascot in the interim. Interestingly the O’Brien runner here Reggae Dancer has been tried from 5f to 7f in his three runs to date running well in defeat in all three and though he has the best of the draw here the Seamie Heffernan ridden colt may again have to settle for the runner up spot.
 
ADVICE
4pt win RIVERSCAPE 2-20 Perth
2pt (saver) POSH LADY 2-20 Perth
lay to lose 5pts BORAGH PRINCESS 2-20 Perth
4pt win RING FOR TIME 2-40 Worcester
1pt win (saver) CONVERTI 2-40 Worcester
3pt win ALAGON 3-50 Perth
2pt win (saver) PAPERCHASER 3-50 Perth
3pt win CROZAN 4-20 Perth
1pt win (savers) FAKIMA and MARUFO 4-20 Perth
3pt win OLAY OLAY 4-40 Worcester
2pt win (saver) CARIBBEAN COVE 4-40 Worcester
5pt win (nap) BANKROBBER 6-00 Fairyhouse
BETDAQ MULTIBET 1pt 3 by 1 doubles and treble - BACKSTAGE, ALAGON and RIVERSCAPE

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.

Tuesday's Return was: LOSS 23 points