Punchestown – Tuesday 23rd November

There was no joy to be had yesterday as despite both selections running decent races, they both bumped into one rival too good and came second each. That is not to worry though as we get to feast our eyes on some exciting jumps action at Punchestown today, with some exciting maiden hurdles and handicaps to get the teeth stuck into. There is a combination of one longer priced horse alongside three at much shorter odds in this piece and fingers crossed that all of them can run well. 

Starting off with the 12.30 race, which is a 3m1f handicap chase for horses rated between 0-102. This doesn’t look like one of the strongest races on paper and as a result, I’m keen to have a look at something that may come out of the pack and surprise us. The only viable option in that category is the young Henry Brown, who has certainly not lived up to what was a good debut effort a few seasons ago when winning his bumper. He beat a smart horse of Willie Mullins that day, but has come nowhere close to matching that form over obstacles. He was a clumsy hurdler and never seemed to get too involved in his four chase starts. However, he has had a year off and has been given a proper chance from the handicapper off a mark of 95. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was to take a step forward on the efforts that we have seen thus far. At a price of 11/1 with William Hill, who offer 5 places, he is worth an each way bet. 

The 2.05 race is one of the better races on the card with this 2m conditions hurdle attracting a solid bunch of horses to the tape. I have been a big fan of the Mouse Morris trained Get My Drift for a long time now and I am not going to let his short price deter me from backing him today. This is a competitive race but this horse could well be a class above his rivals and his form from last year has a nice look to it. He culminated his season with an excellent second at this track at the Festival, when just being denied by El Barra, and the two were in front of the promising MC Muldoon. If recreating that same form pound for pound today, he should not be beaten. At a best price of 6/4 with Paddy Power, I have taken the shorter price. 

Quite surprisingly for me, I am backing this up with another short price in the 2.40 race, which is the 2m5f maiden hurdle and looks to have two fine prospects at the front of the market. I was unsure about whether to put this horse up, but I simply didn’t think I would be getting a backable price about Hunters Yarn, and I can’t let him go unbacked now that he has drifted out slightly. Hunters Yarn is a fascinating recruit to the Mullins stable, having won a bumper in the most facile of fashions for Pat Doyle last year and looks primed to make up into a good novice this year. He is one of the first of Mullins’ strong string of novice hurdlers to make his debut, so it will be interesting to see how he fares in a race that has some talent in behind. That being said, he should make a winning debut if translating his bumper form to hurdles, and again I’m taking a skimpy price of 6/4 with Paddy Power.

And the final selection comes in the 3.05 race, which is the 2m5f handicap hurdle and is the first division of the 80-95 rated contest. We had a very near miss with this horse a few weeks ago, but I am affording one more chance to Saga Aravis – who really deserves to get his head in front for connections after a string of solid performances. Perhaps most notably, Bryan Cooper takes over the ride today and will be looking to add on what has been a very profitable start to the season for the former retained rider of Gigginstown. This horse should be able to pick up one of these races at some stage and if it wasn’t for a big mistake at the last flight last time, he may well have got that elusive first win. Instead he comes here in another competitive race and is 9/2 with Bet365, who offer 4 places. Due to this, they are offering a ¼ of the odds, so I will be backing Saga Aravis each way in the 3.05.