4.50 Fairyhouse
Blazing Beacon 40/1
The Irish National looks a minefield as per usual and I'm hoping Frank McGuinness's Blazing Beacon will be a lively outsider in this and I'm hoping he can land this very lucrative prize. Although now in his veteran years at the age of 11, he's very lightly raced for one of his age with only 19 races to date. Furthermore, he's still very lightly raced over fences winning 3 of his 5 starts and I still feel he's on a workable mark of 130. An impressive winner of a Point To Point on his only completed start, Blazing Beacon was only moderate in his 12 starts in Bumpers and over hurdles but he really took off when he was sent chasing. After a good 2nd on chase debut behind the talented De Valira in September 2011, he showed the benefit of experience when routing a small field by 30L later that month before running a fine 4th in a Grade 3 Chase over 18f behind some very useful sorts in October that year. Blazing Beacon had only one more start that year when winning impressively over 22f at Wexford in a Novice event but it transpired that he injured a tendon which saw him sidelined for a long time. After 505 days off the track, Blazing Beacon made a successful handicap debut off a mark of 122 when landing a gamble over 19f at Wexford last month and he definitely showed he still held his enthusiasm for the game. Under Bryan Cooper, Blazing Beacon jumped phenomenally well for the most part and was taking lengths out his rivals at every fence in the heavy ground as he led from the front. With a reduced advantage approaching the final flight, Blazing Beacon wasn't at his usual fluent best and was headed after the last. However, he regained the advantage with authority late on to score by half a length but he clearly had a lot more left in the tank than the margin suggests.
He's been upped 8lbs for that effort on what will be just his 2nd start in a handicap and he's clearly unexposed over fences despite his veteran status. Given that it was his first start in a very long time, he's entitled to come on an awful lot for the run (although he could bounce) and he certainly seems to retain his ability. Given that the furthest he has raced over Under Rules has been 2m6f, his ability to stay 3m5f is a complete unknown but he looks a horse who is full of heart and he will certainly give it his all. I do, however, think he looks a strong stayer and definitely have hope that he can last home over the mammoth distance. Although McGuinness has maintained he is a better horse on good ground (which results would support), he won on heavy ground LTO and he can act on it. With Junior in the field, Blazing Beacon is allowed to race off a lovely racing weight of 9-9 with the extremely talented Mark Enright taking a very useful 3lb off. Although I can't advise anything other than a small bet in such a competitive event, it would be a wonderful story if Blazing Beacon could win this given that he hails from Frank McGuinness's very small yard and I'm hopeful for a big run from this lightly raced veteran whose wonderful jumping is a huge asset in a race of this nature.