Day one of the Punchestown Festival is a real cracker with three grade ones and the reappearance of the prohibitively priced Sprinter Sacre not to mention an excellent looking bumper and some valuable, competitive handicaps.
4.20 Champagne Fever 13/8
It looks like the bookies are out to get Champagne Fever in the novices 2m hurdle as he's currently 13/8 joint fav with Jezki, a horse he beat at Cheltenham, with Rule The World third favourite at 9/2. Champagne Fever is a real battler who will handle the ground without too many problems and has won at this Festival last year. I don't see Jezki as a bet at the same price as Champagne Fever so it only leaves Rule The World to look at. An excellent 2nd in the Neptune behind The New One at Cheltenham, this is a top class chasing prospect. He's run and won over the trip on his debut for Mouse but all his other runs have been over further. I know Mouse has said he's happier over 2 miles on this ground but for me that is a big question mark. I'll be backing Champagne Fever to confirm Cheltenham superiority over Jezki and to prove that the Supreme was the strongest Novices hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival this year.
6.05 Goods Land Rover Bumper Classic Move (forecast 10/1)
In the Goffs Land Rover bumper Moyle Park makes his debut for Willie Mullins and will be popular. He beat Blackmail on debut and that horse was well fancied for Cheltenham. He's going to be a short price and for me i'm looking for something to beat him because i'm just not sure how good the Blackmail form is actually going to work out.
The one I want to take him on with is the Don Cantillon trained Classic Move. Some of you may remember that Don brought one over last year to win a valuable bumper and this looks like a similar plot to me with the services of Sprinter Sacre's work rider, Nico De Boinville, retained. Like all races of this ilk you've got to reassess when the markets are formed but if he's a double figure price i'll be on him.
6.40 Champion Novice Chase Boston Bob e/w if he hits 5/1 otherwise no bet
I've looked at this race over and over in the hope of making my mind up that there is something priced up wrong but i genuinely don't know if there is. Harry Topper is very interesting but I think that may just be because he swerved facing off against the best of the English so far in his fencing career. What we saw at Cheltenham is that the Irish are a stronger group that the English middle distancers this season. He'd have to be the best of the English 3milers to figure here.
Boston Bob is a horse I loved as a hurdler but something seemed to happen to him during the Cheltenham hurdle race 13 months ago and he didn't appear to be the same animal until a rejuvenated horse ran a highly promising race at Cheltenham only to fall at the last when yet to be asked whether he fancied a fight or not. His most impressive runs have been in the mud in Ireland over hurdles so I strongly think we will see a hell of a run from him tomorrow. However, the Mullins team seem to think their other runner, Back in Focus, is the more likely victor as Ruby rides that one.
Back In Focus is a Grand National horse in my view and I think he'll struggle to cope with the speed of the others tomorrow. In a nutshell I think all things being equal he should be riding Boston Bob and as he isn't maybe they know something about Bob's well being that they've not told the racing world about yet.
I don't think the other horses are going to be able to beat these three so i'm not going into any depth about them.
4.20 Champagne Fever 13/8
It looks like the bookies are out to get Champagne Fever in the novices 2m hurdle as he's currently 13/8 joint fav with Jezki, a horse he beat at Cheltenham, with Rule The World third favourite at 9/2. Champagne Fever is a real battler who will handle the ground without too many problems and has won at this Festival last year. I don't see Jezki as a bet at the same price as Champagne Fever so it only leaves Rule The World to look at. An excellent 2nd in the Neptune behind The New One at Cheltenham, this is a top class chasing prospect. He's run and won over the trip on his debut for Mouse but all his other runs have been over further. I know Mouse has said he's happier over 2 miles on this ground but for me that is a big question mark. I'll be backing Champagne Fever to confirm Cheltenham superiority over Jezki and to prove that the Supreme was the strongest Novices hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival this year.
6.05 Goods Land Rover Bumper Classic Move (forecast 10/1)
In the Goffs Land Rover bumper Moyle Park makes his debut for Willie Mullins and will be popular. He beat Blackmail on debut and that horse was well fancied for Cheltenham. He's going to be a short price and for me i'm looking for something to beat him because i'm just not sure how good the Blackmail form is actually going to work out.
The one I want to take him on with is the Don Cantillon trained Classic Move. Some of you may remember that Don brought one over last year to win a valuable bumper and this looks like a similar plot to me with the services of Sprinter Sacre's work rider, Nico De Boinville, retained. Like all races of this ilk you've got to reassess when the markets are formed but if he's a double figure price i'll be on him.
6.40 Champion Novice Chase Boston Bob e/w if he hits 5/1 otherwise no bet
I've looked at this race over and over in the hope of making my mind up that there is something priced up wrong but i genuinely don't know if there is. Harry Topper is very interesting but I think that may just be because he swerved facing off against the best of the English so far in his fencing career. What we saw at Cheltenham is that the Irish are a stronger group that the English middle distancers this season. He'd have to be the best of the English 3milers to figure here.
Boston Bob is a horse I loved as a hurdler but something seemed to happen to him during the Cheltenham hurdle race 13 months ago and he didn't appear to be the same animal until a rejuvenated horse ran a highly promising race at Cheltenham only to fall at the last when yet to be asked whether he fancied a fight or not. His most impressive runs have been in the mud in Ireland over hurdles so I strongly think we will see a hell of a run from him tomorrow. However, the Mullins team seem to think their other runner, Back in Focus, is the more likely victor as Ruby rides that one.
Back In Focus is a Grand National horse in my view and I think he'll struggle to cope with the speed of the others tomorrow. In a nutshell I think all things being equal he should be riding Boston Bob and as he isn't maybe they know something about Bob's well being that they've not told the racing world about yet.
I don't think the other horses are going to be able to beat these three so i'm not going into any depth about them.
