Sunday 8 November
IRELAND'S EYE
It's a busy Sunday on both sides of the pond and whilst there are three National Hunt meets in England (and Wales) at Ffos Las, Hereford and Market Rasen we will primarily be concentrating on the Emerald Isle where an interesting Limerick card id backed up by a high class Navan card which features 3 Graded contests in addition to a Listed race. Trainer John Mulhern should score in a 2m 4f maiden hurdle with a course flat winner while the recent Munster National third can take a handicap chase off a big weight on a return to Limerick.
Saver Any Currency (11/2-5/1) got us back amongst the winners yesterday in taking a Sandown hc chase while from our first choice River Indus (6-11/1) with our other saver Runshan (17/2-11/2) in third. In addition our lay of the day Heez A Steel (7/4) could only finish 4th in a novice hurdle at Kelso. One of our supplementary choices Red Rebellion (9/2) also finished an honourable third in a competitive bumper but the short priced ‘jolly’ Valentine Vic (11/8-10/11) could only finish in the same berth at Wincanton in a similar contest..
There is a large field of hopefuls in the line up for the opener on a fine Navan card today – a 2m 4f maiden hurdle at 12-25 and the John Mulhern yard can be on the mark with the 7yo Puyol on his sixth attempt over flights. The son of Zaffaran has run some fine races in defeat however and he went down by two and a half lengths to Kempes at Leopardstown before just failing to give 8lbs to Smoking Aces at Naas on just his second and third starts and though this represents a rise in trip for the Mark Walsh ridden gelding he has shaped as if this would suit and he also boasts a comfortable success over the progressive chaser Montero on this track over 2 miles on soft to heavy over a year ago. His main danger could be the dual point and bumper winner Ballymak from the Gordon Elliott yard as the 6yo shaped well when coming from behind when failing to give 11lbs to Golden Alou over 2m 6f at Punchestown 11 days ago on his hurdle debut. Another former pointer Ad Idem is another to consider on his hurdle debut while impressive dual bumper winner Lucky William cannot be left out of calculations either.
The Grade 2 Hurdle at 12-55 over 2m 4f offers the progressive Paul Nolan trained Noble Prince a good opportunity to land his fourth hurdle success and his second in eight days following a facile victory over the admittedly unpredictable Time Electric at Naas over this trip. The Alan Cawley ridden 5yo was a dual flat scorer in France and the Montjeu gelding has been suited by the step up to this trip and though this represents his biggest test to date he can make the grade and account for the four time hurdle scorer and recent easy Thurles winner Oscar Dan Dan who is about the equal of the selection on official ratings but is arguably more exposed. Those who boast higher ratings but are passed over here are course and distance winner Aitmatov and Cheltenham Coral cup winner Ninetienth Minute who are both making their seasonal bows with the latter clearly the one of most interest if stripping fit here for the Taaffe yard.
Kieran Purcells progressive pointer/hunter chaser Paddy Pub has made a fine start to his chase career proper and though the 6yo has to hump 11-12 in the 3m hc chase at Limerick at 3-10 the Paul Townend ridden gelding can return to winning ways following his fine third in the Munster National over course and distance a month ago. The handicapper has raised the Oscar gelding 2lbs for his most recent effort but with soft ground to suit the sound leaper can give weight away all round and land this prize at the expense of one of the lower weights in Bellflower Boy who has been showing signs of a return to form of late and Eric McNamaras course winner generally runs well on his local course and with ground to suit and Robert Jones taking off 7lbs he rates a solid alternative wager.
Previously with Conor O’Donnell and now in the hands of Alan King the twice raced ex point to pointer Ravethebrave could prove the answer to the 2m 4f novice hurdle at Hereford at 3-15 today. This son of Rashar stepped up on a decent debut effort on testing ground to run out a good wide margin victor in a Donore maiden three weeks later where he had the subsequent bumper Bay Central back in third in a decent time. The useful dual bumper winner The Jigsaw Man is the only penalised runner in the field having gained a hard earned victory in a Cheltenham maiden hurdle over 2m 1f and he may be suited by the step up in trip here but he may find it difficult to give 7lbs to the promising Wayne Hutchinson ridden five year old.
3-00 NAVAN – 2m novice chase
Former point and useful hurdler REALT DUBH will be fancied to make a winning debut over fences for the Meade yard and though this far from an easy assignment with the likes of fellow useful chase debutant Roberto Goldback and a couple of experienced sorts in the line up.
4-15 LIMERICK – 2m mares bumper
Paul Nolan’s 4yo GLEANNTAN ran a fine race on her debut on soft in a similar Punchestown contest in May when finishing runner up in a race which has thrown up subsequent scorers and though the Lil’s Boy gelding failed to go one better on better ground at Sligo a month later she can make it third time lucky under her useful 7lb claimer here.
ADVICE
BET 4pt win PUYOL 12-25 Navan
BET 2pt/1pt win BALLYMAK and AD IDEM 12-25 Navan
BET 5pt win NOBLE PRINCE 12-55 Navan
BET 1pt win (saver) OSCAR DAN DAN 12-55
BET 5pt win (nap) PADDY PUB 3-10 LimerickBET 1pt win win (saver) BELLFLOWER BOY 3-10 LimerickBET 4pt win RAVETHEBRAVE 3-15 Hereford
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: LOSS 22 points
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