Wednesday 28 October
IRELAND'S EYE
Haydock and Punchestown are our two main meetings today and we have a couple of fair prices selections at the former venue while in Ireland an experienced sort who has been running well in defeat of late can finally deliver at decent odds in a maiden hurdle.
Psycho (2/1) ensured we were on the mark on the opening day of the two day Punchestown meeting yesterday while our nap Billie Beg (10s morn-9/1) just finished out of the placings in the opener on the card. However we did manage to land our sole lay when hot favourite Vertige Dore (5/6) finished unplaced in the bumper where our saver Al Ferof (20-12/1) ran a fine third with our first choice Perfect Smile (7s morn-3/1) just one placing behind in fourth.
Gordon Elliotts former useful dual point winner now racing in the Gigginstown silks will be expected to make a winning bow over hurdles today when the 6yo lines up for the 2m 6f maiden at 1-45 at Punchestown. Though he did score on his Park debut when justifying favouritism in a Down Royal bumper he had more than a ’slice of luck’ on his side as he was awarded the spoils as the first two were disqualified in somewhat bizzare circumstances. Nevertheless the Bob Back gelding was a wide margin winner of Limavady and Tinahely points last year on soft and worse ground and the step up in trip looks tailor made for the Davy Russell ridden runner but he may find the concession of 11lbs to the 100 rated Maureen Danagher trained Golden Alou who admittedly has had his fair share of chances to date over flights. Nevertheless the Golden Tornado 6yo was placed behind two well fancied winners in For The Staff and Fitzfirth at Cork (2m 4f) and Listowel over 3m before staying on to take a fair fourth to a well handicapped rival in Our Monty over this trip at Limerick last time. With Lenny Flynn taking off 3lbs here he gets a narrow vote to account for the unbeaten Ballymak while the Ruby Walsh ridden Danderry is officially the highest rated runner here but the Paul Flynn trained runner has proved a tad disappointing in a finish on a couple of occasions.
The lightly raced 6yo Ikorodu Road from the Sheppard yard has shown fine form in his three starts to date and a reproduction of his close second to the decent Bakbenscher on his Stratford debut and his narrow defeat of Kack Handed (should go close in 4-30 on same card) at Southwell over seven months ago over the minimum trip should see him land the 3-25 at Haydock today. Though the Noel Fehily ridden gelding stepped up to 2m 4 1/2f on his handicap hurdle debut he should not be inconvenienced on breeding grounds alone and he looks to be on a fair mark here on his seasonal debut where top weight Royal Rationale rates the main danger as this represents a drop in class for the three time hurdle winner who also boasts a second placing in a handicap on the track over 2m 1f but this trip will pose no problem for the David Pipe trained 5yo.
Farmacaffley point winner (2006) Thai Vango has been a lightly tried 8yo for the Nigel Twiston Davies yard but he can land his second chase and follow up his Market Rasen handicap victory over 2m 7f by landing the 4-00 at Haydock off bottom weight and in the process overcome a 7lb rise at the weights. Though the price could be on the short side the Paddy Brennan ridden former bumper winner can normally be relied upon to run his race and on just his sixth chase start there could be more to come from the son of Religiously and he should be capable of beating the top weight Jaunty Times who has not always been the most consistent of leapers and is making just his second start in the last eighteen months.
Racing closes at Punchestown with an interesting mares winners bumper where Mick Winters unbeaten point to pointer and bumper winner For Bill faces her stiffest task to date. An easy winner of a competitive mares winners race at Knockanard the daughter of Presenting put up an impressive performance in disposing of a field of her own gender in a Tipperary 2m 2f bumper at Tipperary when last seen in April. If she strips fit here and with her regular partner Mikey O’Connor on board the smooth travelling 6yo should not be inconvenienced by the trop back to 2m here and with ground to suit she can beat the once raced and easy bumper scorer Flemenscall from the Noel Meade yard while the Robert Murphy trained ex point winner Flamingos Gold merits consideration on her staying on third to the selection at Tipperary.
1-50 HAYDOCK 2m hc chase
Richard Fords Silver Steel looks a progressive chaser and the 6yo will be hard to beat in his bid for the hat trick here under a 8lbs penalty for his Uttoxeter win over one of todays rivals Incorporation (now 5lbs better off) over this trip
3-55 PUNCHESTOWN 2m 6f hc chase
Many chances here and the three against the field could be INOMA JAMES, Droim Toll and Doheny Bar with slight preference for the latter who ran well in taking third to Amaretto Son over 3m 1f here on his first start for more than six months lately while the latter – a point winner has ability but is not to overly rely on but his recent second was encouraging and he looks well handicapped.
ADVICE
BET 4pt win GOLDEN ALOU 1-45 Punchestown
BET 2pt win (saver) BALLYMAK 1-45 Punchestown
BET 4pt win IKORODU ROAD 3-25 Haydock
BET 2pt win (saver) ROYAL RATIONALE 3-25 Haydock
BET 5pt win THAI VANGO 4-00 Haydock
BET 5pt win (nap) FOR BILL 4-25 Punchestown
BETDAQ MULTIBET - 1pt doubles/treble: THAI VANGO, IKORODU ROAD and SILVER STEEL
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: PROFIT 1 point
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