Bulmers Handicap Chase – Leopardstown – Sunday 5th February

Bulmers Handicap Chase Preview & Betting Tips – Dublin Racing Festival -Will Smith

The Grade 1’s at the Dublin Racing Festival this coming weekend, for the most part, will be fairly simple affairs you would think.

The likes of Blue Lord, Facile Vega, Galopin Des Champs and Lossiemouth would look to have outstanding chances to confirm their outstanding claims for their respective targets at the upcoming Cheltenham Festival.

Elsewhere, there are plenty of tasty betting morsels at Musselburgh and Sandown Park, but for the here and now, the Bulmers Handicap Chase at 2.40 at Leopardstown’s Dublin Racing Festival on Sunday is the best opportunity for some value.

Indigo Breeze is currently market leader, but short enough for a horse who looks as if the further he goes, the better he’ll be. For all that his form with The Real Whacker at Cheltenham makes him a potentially very well handicapped horse.

The next two in are Panda Boy and Maskada, who would prefer softer ground than it will likely be, so all told, I think there is some nice value to be had amongst the bigger prices currently.

Two of the most pertinent 3m handicap chases in Ireland are the Troytown at Navan in November, and the Paddy Power Handicap Chase at Leopardstown at Christmas – and the two picks for the Bulmers Handicap Chase were significant eyecatchers in each race, before perhaps not quite seeing out the 3m trip in these contests.

Firstly, the Paddy Power Handicap Chase, which has already produced the winner of the Thyestes in Carefully Selected, also throws up Take All at 20/1 each-way with Bet365 or Coral.

Due to have his first start for Shark Hanlon at the weekend, Take All was a staying on 3^rd over 2m at the track last Christmas, and he went on to confirm his liking for the Dublin track, by looming up looking a real threat over 3m last month.

Take All didn’t quite stay, as mentioned, but the way he jumped and travelled himself into contention suggested he was both on good terms with himself, and also that a drop to this trip of 2m5f would be just the ticket. He also raced on the inside of the chase track, whereas most of the horses that fought out the finish raced wider.

Willie Mullins wouldn’t have many chasers rated 130, and to be honest, I can’t quite believe Rambranltjac is actually rated so low. Since winning readily at Galway in July in a beginner’s chase, he has built up some valuable experience in various graded races, before making his handicap chase debut in the Troytown.

The likes of The Big Dog and Lifetime Ambition were prominent on the inner throughout, and it seemed pretty hard for anything else in the race to make up ground on these two. However, Rambranltjac made a swaggering move exiting the back straight to loom up out wide with three to jump.

For all the world it looked as if Brian Hayes and his partner would play a hand in the finish, but he failed to quite get home over 3m on the soft ground. Much like Take All, the drop to 2m5f on what will be decent ground, will be absolutely perfect for Rambranltjac, who is the second prong to the attack, and is available at 25/1 each-way with Coral or Ladbrokes.