Fairyhouse Day Three – Monday 18th April

Irish National Monday is one of the great spectacles of the Horse Racing Calendar here in Ireland it will be brilliant to see huge crowds filing back into Fairyhouse this year on Easter Monday to cheer home their heroes. The big race looks a tricky one as always, and may be worth siding with a few bullets, while the rest of the card looks to have a few appetizing bets to get stuck into as well. I will be going through my thoughts on the action below. 

Starting with the 3.15 race, which is a 2m5f handicap hurdle and this 0-140 contest has attracted 17 to post. Carrig Sam is your market leader, and this Arthur Moore trained gelding is still unbeaten under rules after two starts, and won impressively last time out. However, he is short for a race of this nature and he can be passed over at the prices. I am going to the well one last time with Folcano, who I still believe is a well handicapped horse and I am still waiting to potentially get my rewards. Having finished a very good fourth at Navan in December, he ran no better than okay when finishing mid division in the Pertemps at Cheltenham. Perhaps 3 miles around a track like that stretches him, and this in between trip may suit better. I am hoping it does, as off 130 he looks potentially well weighted. At a price of 7/1 with Paddy Power, he looks a good bet each way. 

The Irish National itself at 5.00 looks a complete and utter puzzle with the 3m5f contest having any amount of form lines to consider when trying to work this race out. One would have to respect Gaillard Du Mesnil, as he is the class horse in the race, but I’m not quite as convinced as some that he is begging for this marathon trip, so I am prepared to allow him to slide at those prices. Instead, I quite like the case to be made for Max Flamingo, for the small but shrewd connections of Francis Casey and Denis O’Regan. This horse has been a steady improver throughout the season, picking up valuable experience and has run around this course plenty of times, including when winning at this meeting last year. He is still feasibly treated by the handicapper and this extreme test of stamina promises to suit very well and right handed tracks are the making of him. With all this taken into account, a price of 10/1 with Paddy Power, who are offering 6 places – looks a good bet. 

I am also going to throw a dart at the board for this race at a much bigger price, as I feel that is where it could end up going. A horse that I was all over for the Kim Muir and disappointed badly was Smoking Gun. He just did not seem to fire that day, and given the fact that he traveled well and jumped well in the main, it was quite disappointing. He returns to Fairyhouse tomorrow, which is his favorite track and he won over this course and distance earlier in the year when landing the Porterstown. He seems to be ground versatile, but won’t mind the fact that it is decent enough ground conditions and as previously mentioned, his jumping is usually solid. He scrapes in as last on the list for Gordon Elliot and Kevin Sexton, and I am hoping he can avenge his Cheltenham woes. At a massive price of 35/1 with Paddy Power, he is worth an each way saver. 

The final selection of the day and the meeting comes in the 5.40 race, which is the 3m1f handicap chase and this race serves as a bit of a filler for those that didn’t quite make the cut for the National. A horse I was strongly hoping might sneak into the National was the Porterstown Chase second, The Dabbler. This horse is in love with these types of conditions and perhaps this 3m1f test would be his ideal, given he may not have stayed 3m5f earlier this season. However, his form from earlier this year was very progressive and he seems to be at his best on right handed tracks such as these. Off a mark of 127, which seems like a mark that he still has legs to spare with, he should give a very good account of himself. He was well backed last time out in a Irish National trial before being brought down early. As long as that has not affected his confidence, he should rightly be involved in the business end. At a price of 6/1 with Paddy Power, with 4 places available – he would be a strong each way bet.