Clonmel – Thursday 6th January

It wasn’t to be yesterday at Ffos Las as the two horses selected failed to get involved when the business end of the race came their way. It did look tricky racing going into it and this week in general has been thin on the ground for serious betting opportunities. We move back to the comfort of the Emerald Isle this afternoon, where there is racing from Clonmel – which looks a trappy card and is on softer ground than we have seen at this venue throughout their previous meetings this year. With this in mind, I have three selections from the track.

Starting with the 12.50 race, which is a 2 mile maiden hurdle and is often the case with these races in Ireland, you can pretty quickly narrow this race down to only a couple of likely winners. Gorko D’Airy brings the best form to the table from last time, but he has not proved himself to be the most consistent and reliable and can be left alone at odds on. Instead, I am going to give one more chance to Lieutenant Highway, who has been a shade disappointing in his bumper runs given he is a horse who is well regarded by his connections. He was especially underwhelming at Tramore last time out, but that was against a good horse and some horses struggle to handle the configurations of that course, so I am going to excuse that effort. He now goes hurdling for the first time with Davy Russell taking the ride, and I am hopeful for a good spin. At a price of 6/1 with Paddy Power, I make him a good bet each way. 

The 1.50 race is the feature race on the card and the Munster Hurdle just has four runners going to post, but it does look like a select four. The favourite, Classic Getaway, is a well regarded and pricey youngster for the ever powerful Cheveley Park Team, and will likely take a lot of beating on his first start over hurdles. However, he is a short price and instead I am going to risk a horse against him in this field. I have never hidden the admiration that I have for Gordon Dai Dai and his win over course and distance last time out was very easy on the eye. He jumped superbly throughout and quickened away off a solid pace, giving the impression a step up in class was required. He gets that rise in class here, so it will be interesting to see how he fares. He is a best price of 6/1 with William Hill, which will have to be backed to win only in this field, but I am hopeful of a good run. 

And finally, the 3.00 at Clonmel is the 2m handicap chase and this race looks like one that should favor horses that can cope with these conditions, as plenty come in here with decent ground form. One that is proven in the mud is Robert Tyner’s mare, Nelly’s Money – who represents a seriously in-form stable after a golden period over Christmas. This mare won this time last year over hurdles and although her chase efforts have been underwhelming thus far, this is her first proper chance in a handicap off a workable mark. She won over hurdles last year off a mark of 104 and she runs here off 107. Her effort at this course in early December was poor, but the stable are in much better form now and she could well have improved plenty since that spin. At a price of 12/1 with Bet365, who are offering 4 places, she should be backed each way.