Sunday's Meetings Curragh Flat 8 Races 1:30-5:10p.m. Carlisle N/H 7 Races 1:50-5:00p.m. Chepstow N/H 7 Races 2:05-5:15p.m. Downpatrick N/H 7 Races 2:10-5:22p.m. Racecards At The Races Racing Post Sporting Life Place a bet in the Virtual Betting shop here Good Luck
Can you believe me have the first turf 2yo race tomorrow! TURN ON THE JETS 13/2 Curragh 1:30 could be the answer. Bred to be a total speedball. Out of a dam who achieved a 100 rating over the minimum trip and by premier first season sire Mehmas who obviously passes on his pace to his progeny. A couple of the O'Briens have runners but they are not going be A listers. Turn On The Jets hails from a fledgling yard but early signs are that they know what they are doing.
Curragh 16,10 Lobo Rojo 16/1 e/w (six places with PP and Betfair, others five) Tricky race, good draw, good jockey and yard in form, maybe down in trip could be a concern. Drifting this morning. Carlise 17,00 Wonderoftheworld 10/1 e/w Hunters' Chase, off 15 months, anything close to his old form would suffice but... Eight runners, if it was seven it wouldn't be worth the risk. Downpatrick 16,22 Springfield Lodge 10/1 e/w (four places)
Good morning all. Beautiful Sunny day to kickstart the flat season today and of course I couldn't resist a bet in the muggiest of muggy races - the Irish Lincolnshire. First of all there was one that stood out in the opener, and that is Jim Bolger's Freedom Of Speech 10/3. She's a half sister to a 5f winner and out of Vocal Nation, who herself was a 6.5f winner. Freedom Of Speech should be speedy enough to contend with some of the more prominent sprinter's among them, but also, with Australia being her Daddy, she could be staying on strongest at the finish. The Donnacha trained Silver Surfer could prove different gravy, and it will be interesting to see how this Caravaggio colt goes. Hoepfully, as with many O' Brien family members, today is just for schooling purposes. I won't be going too mad on these but I picked two for the Lincolnshire. Quizical 40/1 and Insignia of Rank 22/1. Both paying 5 places. Quizical has run well fresh in the past and although he is at the higher echelon of the handicap, he has the form to win a race such as this. If Sheila Lavery has him fully fit, I think he can run well at a big price. Insignia of Rank has had an unsuccessful hurdle campaign over Winter. He has some patchy form over his career, but also some smart form as well. He his extremely well handicapped and has CD form to boot. Would go well if reproducing any of that old spark at the venue of arguably his biggest win.
EW Patent/treble: 2:00 Curragh - Summer Sands 15/2 4:40 Curragh - MK Drama 8/1 5:10 Curragh - Sunset Nova 7/1 In that 4:40 race i also like Boasty. If taking to turf then is a cracking ew bet at 16s. reverse fc with the one above also. Its usually easy money to back Bolger/Manning early doors in the Irish flat season. They have 4 today. I'm not on them but thought it worth a mention.
At the Curragh I have had a saver in the first on Satin Snake at 25's with no R4 as it has a nice speedy pedigree and is an early foal. In the Lincoln I like two outsiders, Comfort Line 22/1 and Star Of Cashel (7 places) 33/1. Chepstow, two singles and a double on Collooney 3;40 and Cobra Commander 4;45 when both were 9's Two bumpers today and not that excited about the Chepstow one but going for the Nicholls horse Gold Bullion as the form of his debut race looks pretty tidy and one at Downpatrick where Drumbear (9/1) has a really nice pedigree and could go well on debut. Interested in Pilgrims hunter chaser, Wonderoftheworld, who has now drifted to 14/1 for the Carlisle finale. Tempted to play with an extra place <insert chicken emoji>
Not really interested in the racing today but Captain Chaos 9/4 and Galloping Bear 5/6 for a lazy double. I'm guessing Sametegal would have had a decent chance in the 17.00 and GB beat that one by 12l. CC to lead all the way as he did at Ascot (wearing blinkers). Blinkers on again today
He comes from Ireland and that almost always has to be taken into account but it's not a good sign, maybe need the run. The opposite happens with Pass The Hat, the money comes pouring in from 80/1 to 12/1.
Is Silver Surfer the first Caravaggio progeny we'll see? Actually thought there was another week before this kicked off... Can't wait
The only horses I'd take from that race are the winner... Considering 5f is probably too short for it to be running at I'm looking forward to seeing it at 6/7f... Especially seeing how it kicked on at the end... Silver Surfer was probably a little green, wouldn't go for a gap it was asked for so got trapped behind a horse, ran on well considering... Didn't look the greatest race but these are the only two I'll be thinking about backing in the future...
That was really dissapointing on many levels. The selection was backed in to 5/2 but faded very badly after showing some early pace. The first Caravaggio was a big dissapointment and the race was won by a Bolger second string. My saver horse, Satin Snake, looked like he would definitely benefit for the experience.
Gonna have a little play on Down force in the hopes that the ground is actually a bit heavy... Only looked soft for the first race but description is soft/heavy...
Really like the look of the top two and think O'Briens is overpriced considering his 3rd to St. mark's basilica and the form of his maiden win... Worried about the ground and improvement from Weld's, and the weights difference... But I have a €10 free bet from yesterday so I'll just use that...
Some serious improvement from 3rd place Fourhometwo... Only carrying 2lbs less than Duke of Mantua and effectively giving the 2 that finished ahead of him a stone and a bit... Looks to have improved a lot from being gelded..
The Irish Lincoln features a couple of ex John Gosden inmates in Godhead and Casanova. Obviously these are lesser lights and both geldings but they should be capable of a good showing for their new trainer and both would have each-way claims here. Gee Rex and Teed Up have obvious looking form lines to advertise their claims but the betting more than reflects that fact, particularly the first named, who is clear favourite in a big field handicap. I usually baulk at single figure odds in 24 runner handicaps but they do win from time to time and punters will always say that a winner at any price is better than a loser at big odds. Maker Of Kings is the other single figure priced runner in the field and he progressed about a stone for Ger Lyons last season. The former Elliott trained horse needs more now that he is up to 98 in the ratings but he has been gelded and perhaps that might bring further progress and I am sure many racing fans would have liked to see his original trainer getting the same procedure of being de-bollocked after his leaked photo fiasco. Looking at the betting I decided to go with Godhead at 14/1 EW. He wasn't great last timeout but I am sure they will have been looking at this race as the prize. He was 3rd in the Bunbury Cup, so has big field handicap experience. The ground is a bit of an unknown but his draw in box 23 is close to the favourite in stall 18 and that may be an advantage, with Teed Up and Lafayette drawn in boxes 6 and 5. 4.10 Curragh Godhead 14/1 EW in the hope that his 50,000 Guineas purchase price can be nearly paid for today. Good luck to all early Flat players this season.
Next at the Curragh... O'Brien's horse's form ties in with Duke of Mantua through Sword Zorro, the latter beat it while Horoscope was 4L behind... The form from both those races hasn't worked out at all so I'm backing Dermot Weld's Probe in this one and hoping that Saatty can run well behind...
Joan Of Arc wins an egg and spoon maiden in March and is as low as 10/1 for the 1000 Guineas now. Last season's Fillies Mile winner is available at only 2pts lower. Mad March Hares or what?
