Down Royal – Tuesday 25th January

It is always a nice feeling waking up to a midweek meeting on this side of the Irish sea and after a welcome few days off – it is time to get stuck back into the Down Royal action and to try and pick apart some of the races. It is a good standard card with plenty of horses that we have backed before – so there might be similar cases made for horses that have been successful or unlucky for us in the past. 

Starting off with the 2.10 race – which is a 2m novice hurdle and looks a really good race on paper, perhaps the best of the card. There are two horses in this race that have won for us before, with Drumbear and Ballycoose both being successful in recent weeks in Scotland. However, preference on this occasion goes to Drumbear – who may well be an above average recruit for the John McConnell team and could not have done it any more impressively at Musselburgh three weeks ago. He tanked through that race over 2m4f, giving the impression this step down in trip will suit greatly. He jumped fluently and showed off the big engine that has always looked like it was there in his bumper days. He looks an exciting prospect and hopefully he can keep his unbeaten record over hurdles intact on his second start over the smaller obstacles. At a price of 5/2 with Paddy Power – he is worth siding with. 

The following race is the 2.40 – which is a 2m novice chase and again looks a good little race for its type and some connections will be looking to get back on the winning trail. The most notable of those is The Priests Leap – who was terribly unlucky to be denied last time out at Limerick, when a loose horse hampering him for the majority of the way was probably the difference between losing and winning the race. There had been a strong word for him before that race and his trainer, Arthur Moore, is a dab hand at getting these types of horses to win – so he should be taken very seriously in this contest. I was very close to putting up Delvino to take on this horse, but the price of the mare has contracted to the extent of these two being joint favorites at the top of the market, and preference must go to the former. At a general price of 7/2 – he is a fair price to back.

The 3.40 race is a tasty 3m handicap chase and I am hoping that we can one better this time around with the attractively handicapped, Ragnar Lodbrok – who must come in here with a massive chance of his current rating of 121. Having run in three beginners chases, it was no surprise to see this horse step up massively on that last time out on handicap bow when second only to a progressive rival. He has been edged up 2 pounds for that effort, which I think is more than fair and he is still very attractively weighted in comparison to some of his hurdling efforts last season. This is potentially the last chance saloon for Ragnar Lodbrok, as he has tested the patience of his followers plenty of times before – but he should have a great chance of winning this race. At 11/4 with William Hill – he is another bet.

And the final race on the card is the 4.10 – which is customary fashion for an Irish card, is a bumper and sees a short priced Willie Mullins favorite topping the market. However, despite his debut effort holding some promise in what looked a strong race – it takes a braver man than me to be sharking in at that price about Tenzing. Pat’s Choice also slightly blotted his copy book over Christmas – so I will let him win at the current prices also. Instead, it’s all about Musta Lovea Lovea – who has been knocking on the door without getting that elusive victory. He has desperately unlucky not to win at Downpatrick last summer, before just coming up short at Limerick over Christmas. However, the balance of his better form is on a slightly sounder surface – so he should be well suited by these conditions and the fact that connections  are persisting in bumpers would indicate they feel he can win one. A price of 17/2 with SkyBet – who are offering 4 places, looks the best each way bet of the day.