Ballinrobe – Monday 9th August

It was a good day yesterday, but could have been a great day for us on WhichBookie, after a few very near misses. A Case of You was beaten into finishing in the frame by a neck and Dr Zempf ran a cracker to only be denied by the tough Ebro River by a half length. However, we had joy up in Downpatrick and once again, it was our man Paul Nolan rescuing us from the abyss, as Dympnas Well did it nicely and has now won twice this summer for connections. We are now starting another fresh week, and we have some good action at Ballinrobe to get stuck into this evening. 

We’re starting off the three selections for this evening with the 6.15 at Ballinrobe, which is an Auction Maiden Hurdle over 2m6f. These races are a brilliant addition to the racing calendar as it gives those horses that were not too expensive, the opportunity to compete for decent prize money at a decent level. This race however doesn’t look like one of the great races, and is an open betting heat as a result. I would be quite content to take on Cream Sparkles at the top of the betting, who despite clearly having the best form in the book, doesn’t particularly look like a solid 13/8 favourite in this sort of contest. Instead, I am going to be taking a punt on a horse at a price.

That horse is Will You Win for Oliver McKiernan and Barry Browne, who has some handy form, including over this C&D last summer. She knocked on the door a few times last summer without getting her head in front, and I don’t think her two runs this summer have been too bad either. She made a very promising reappearance from the front at Kilbeggan when fading late on into fourth, before running over the wrong trip at Cork and being badly outpaced. She now steps back up to a more convenient trip and I think she has a bigger chance than her price would indicate. She is available at 25/1 with the majority of bookmakers, and I am going to side with her each way as a result. 

The next race on the agenda is the 6.45, which is the first division of the 80-102 handicap hurdle over 2m6f also. You may remember me putting up Definiteadare last time he ran at Roscommon, where I believe he was slightly unlucky to finish fifth. I am going to take a chance on him here again, with regular pilot Bryan Cooper back onboard for his dad. One could argue that this horse is becoming handicapped out of things, but he is still running to a very competitive level of form for this level, and if replicating some of those prior efforts, he will be bang in the mix yet again. Lost Oscar is an interesting runner for Peter Fahey but she doesn’t look the most straightforward and there is a lot of work to do with her jumping. I would be much more in favour of Cooper’s charge, and at a price of 6/1 with Paddy Power, with them paying out 4 places, I will be backing him each way. 

Finally, the third selection of the day comes in the 7.45 race and is a safe each-way bet in my eyes, with the progressive Junior Rattler, for the same connections of the first selection. This horse has been a revelation over the summer months having won a handicap hurdle at Naas in March time, just before the Cheltenham Festival. He backed that effort up with two strong placed performances in 3m contests at Wexford and Tipperary, before scoring again at Punchestown over the intermediate trip of 2m4f. He ran last week at Cork over 2m, which is simply too short these days, and was outpaced before lunging late for 4th place. He should come on a lot for that effort now back up in trip and should take a bit of stopping in this race. He is currently 5/1 with Paddy Power, who are again going 4 places, and I’ll be taking that conservative option, and hoping that he can get the job done.