Curragh Saturday 17th April

To say that Joseph O’Brien has a stranglehold on the Tesoro Vita Handicap at 4.15 at The Curragh this afternoon is a significant underplaying of the situation. As I write, he saddles the clear four market principals – (in racecard order) Dance Jupiter, Raise You, Fame And Acclaim and Never Forgotten.

When the markets went up last night, most layers took the view that his three unexposed seasonal debutants Dance Jupiter, Raise You and Never Forgotten were the favoured trio, with recent Irish Lincolnshire sixth Fame And Acclaim available as the outsider of Joseph’s four at 9/1.

Plenty of people took the view that this was an error, and I for one, agree with that notion. Trouble is, Fame And Acclaim is now into a best priced 11/2 with Bet365, who offer only four places each-way. While William Hill, BetVictor and Unibet are 5/1 for five places, and Sky Bet are 9/2 for six places.

Sky Bet being the one outlier in terms of place terms by offering the safety net of six places, and as explained in previous articles, I would much prefer taking the extra cushion, as long as the price is within hailing distance of the top price. So, at 9/2 with Sky Bet, Fame And Acclaim is a good each-way bet for me.

If it is your inclination to take a better price then be my guest, but in a big field handicap like this, one small bit of traffic, and you can quickly be left rueing not having that extra place. As the morning pushes on, I would think you could keep an eye out for a better price with Sky Bet. But either way, Fame And Acclaim is a strong fancy to at least outperform his stablemates, and that may well be good enough to win the Tesoro Vita Handicap at The Curragh at 4.15 this afternoon.

From a wide draw, in the Irish Lincolnshire, on unsuitable soft ground, Fame And Acclaim did well to keep tabs on the principles from where he had to race on the track, and he finished out the race strongly. He has to overcome stall 16 today, but given where the wind is likely to be, (into their faces from the right up the straight,) it could well be an advantage to make your ground up late and wide with some cover.

The Luke Comer-trained He Knows No Fear is closely matched with Fame And Acclaim also, and is available at a best-priced 20/1, and I wouldn’t put anyone of an each-way saver on him too.