Saturday 21 November
IRELAND'S EYE
With a full list of meetings scheduled to go ahead it is an extremely full Saturday with pride of place going to the Grade 1 Chase at Haydock which sees a fascinating clash between dual Gold Cup hero Kauto Star and the Irish pretender Notre Pere with a fine supporting cast. In addition there is a top class card at Ascot while Huntingdon and Gowran in Ireland offers plenty of fine betting opportunities. A former point winner can revert to hurdles today and land a competitive handicap for Nicky Henderson while a front runner can land back to back successes in a Huntingdon hc chase.
We scored on the double yesterday when nap Any Currency (34-15/8) came late and fast to land his second chase at Ascot while Bishops Heir (4-7/2) took the opener on the Kelso card on his hurdle debut. Red Harbour (6th 7/4) proved a successful lay at Ascot while Four Strong Winds (4/1) managed to finish third in the curtain raiser at Exeter. Also we go two legs of a BETDAQ MULTIBET up with Any Currency and Forest Pennant (5/6) landing the spoils.
Dessie Hughes send the three time hurdle winning mare Grangeclare Gold to contest the opening 2m 6f novice hurdle at Ascot at 12-20 with prospects of going one better on her modest second placing to the highly progressive mare Premier Victory at Down Royal recently in a Group 3 mares hurdle over two miles. However despite the fact that the 6yo has 5lb claimer Ian McCarthy on board the daughter of Old Vic remains unexposed over this trip and the nod is given instead to the 151 rated four time chase winner Possol from the in form Henry Daly yard though the 6yo has only had two runs over the minor obstacles and those efforts were hardly earth shattering in truth. However he gets all the allowances here and the Andy Tinkler ridden gelding can land this at the expense of the former Gordon Elliott trained Arkose who failed to get past the first in two point starts but has scored in a Listowel bumper from subsequent snug bumper winner Lucky William. The 5yo has since landed a Huntingdon 2m 5f novice hurdle in fair style from the 128 rated hurdler Mission Control and he with another unexposed 4yo South Leinster (runner up in a fastish Carlisle good ground bumper) rate the chief danger.
Chris Bealbys front runner Bennythejets scored at his second attempt over fences at the demanding Towcester circuit a month ago over 2m 1f and with placed form in the book over further the 2m 4 1/2f hc chase at Huntingdon should see the 7yo record his fourth career start here on ground that suits. Though he went up 7lbs for his latest win the Tom Messenger has decent prospects of making every post a winning one here.
West End Master failed to land a point in five efforts ‘between the flags’ but Lorcan Donnellys 5yo son of Oscar seems to be on an upwards spiral of late over hurdles when the ground rides on the soft side and he can add to his surprise Clonmel handicap hurdle win in the 2-50 at Gowran today. Though he went up 8lbs for that victory and a further three pounds for finishing a close enough third to Operation Houdini in a Navan 2m 7f hc hurdle last time he still looks to be on a reasonable mark and with Robert Latta once again taking off a valuable seven pounds he can score here from the lightly raced 8yo Castlewellan who is running in his first handicap but he ran well in Tipperary and Punchestown hurdles up to three miles on soft and worse ground of late.
Nicky Hendersons yard have been ‘hitting the bullseye’ of late and they can land an ultra competitive 3m 1f hc hurdle at Haydock at 2-20 under Ruby Walsh with Burton Port. Though the son of Bob Back took four tries before landing his point in Ireland he made an immediate impact for his current yard by taking a couple of Hereford bumpers and novice hurdles on soft before running well in a few decent novices and a handicap over this track on penultimate run when failing to land a ‘touch’ in taking the second money when failing to give 18lbs to Quinz. He is now just 6lbs higher in the weights and he showed his current well being when scoring on his chase debut at Bangor over 2m 5f ten days ago and he looks ideally suited by this step up in distance and he can account for another progressive sort in Wendel whose third hurdle win was achieved when he gave 3lbs and a thrashing to the useful Chariot Charger at Ascot on heavy over 2m 4f on penultimate start last term. Top weight Diamond Harry and the lowly weighted McMurrough are others who require a second glance in the market.
1-45 HAYDOCK – 2m 1/2f bumper
Though the form of the point won by the former Thomond O’Mara trained Liscarroll point winner PEDDLERS CROSS has not been upheld the subsequent expensive purchase could still prove the solution to this contest on his debut for the Donald McCain yard.
2-35 ASCOT – 2m 3f 110yds hurdle
Alan King is doubly represented in this Grade 2 event with KARABAK and Katchit and though the latter comes out best at the weights the former may have the most score for improvement and this trip could suit the Ballymore Properties runner up (to Mikael D’Haguenet) with Tony McCoy on board. The unbeaten Triumph Hurdle winner Zaynar and the three time course winner and battle hardened Lough Derg look the most likely alternatives.
2-55 HAYDOCK 3m chase
Ten time chase winner MADISON DE BERLAIS sprang a surprise when accounting for an admittedly below par Denman on his belated seasonal debut last year and he can ‘repeat the dose’ by seeing off that ones stable companion and dual Gold Cup winner Kauto Star in this Grade 1 event with ground to suit while Irish challenger Notre Pere may emerge as his main rival.
3-10 ASCOT – 2m 3f chase.
In what looks a fascinating Grade 2 event the selection is the Phillip Hobbs trained PLANET OF SOUND who created a fine impression when landing a competitive Grade 2 Exeter hc chase on his seasonal debut over 2m 2f where he put in a fine round of jumping and the progressive and lightly raced 7yo can land his fourth chase here at the expense of that grand old veteran Monets Garden under Paul Carberry and Irish challenger Schindlers Hunt.
3-20 GOWRAN
Noel Meade and Nina Carberry can land the closing contest on todays card with the twice raced 5yo MEDICAL CARD who should go one better than his modest second placing behind favourite Skorcher in a Navan heavy ground bumper ten months ago. The more experienced Dapper Dan rates the main danger as the Gerald O’Leary trained five year old boasts fair bumper form on this surface and was third in the corresponding contest last year.
ADVICE
BET 4pt win POSSOL 12-20 AscotBET 1pt win (savers) ARKOSE and SOUTH LEINSTER 12-20 AscotBET 4pt win BENNYTHEJETS 1-35 Huntingdon
BET 4pt win (nap) BURTON PORT 2-20 Haydock
BET 2pt win (saver) WENDEL 2-20 Haydock
BET 3pt win WEST SHIP MASTER 2-50 Gowran
BET 2pt win (saver) CASTLEWELLAN 2-50 Gowran
BETDAQ MULTIBET – 1pt doubles/treble BURTON PORT, KARABAK and BENNYTHEJETS
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.
Friday's Return was: PROFIT 14.77 points
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