Thurles – Thursday 10th March

It was an awfully disappointing day yesterday with the two selections not picking up ahead of steam whatsoever and ending up being quite well beaten despite their apparent chances. We have a return to the more peaceful Thurles this afternoon and fingers crossed we can find a few horses to run above their odds in what looks like a typically competitive midweek card around Ireland. 

Starting with the 1.50 race, which is a beginners chase over 2m5f and this doesn’t look like a vintage beginners by any degree. Despite him having an apparent chance, Explosive Boy has turned into a tricky and expensive horse to follow and one would be able to rest easy letting him win at a short enough price. I am going to take a swipe on Nazine in this race, with the step back up in trip the key to him here after some good efforts over hurdles. He finished his hurdling career for now with a great second at Leopardstown over Christmas, and despite some jumping issues in his first two starts over the big sticks, he now goes out to 2m5f. That should help him get into a rhythm and provided that he’s put into the race, he should have a fighting chance based on his best form. His trainer is having a good season with the horses he has, and Nazine has to be taken very seriously here. At a price of 11/1 with SkyBet, who are offering 4 places – he is an each way bet. 

The 3.35 race is a 2m handicap hurdle for horses rated between 80-95 and this race is typically competitive for a lowly rated affair. I am going to take one more chance on the lowly rated but sometimes talented, Frazel Express – who has been a frustrating horse for connections to not get her head in front at this stage. However, some of her form reads quite well and she is returning to optimum ground conditions on this occasion, so she should in theory have a great chance. Her run the last day left a bit to be desired, as she was allowed to weaken out of contention before plugging on again and perhaps they were waiting for her to drop to a mark of 80. She just sneaks into this race and has a lovely racing weight. At a big price of 20/1 with Bet365, who are offering 4 places, she is an each way bet. 

The 4.10 race is a 2m5f maiden hurdle and similar to the beginners’ chase, there are no stars in this line-up. I am going to take a tentative chance on Hollington for the Crawford / Slevin combination who ran a stinker of a race over hurdles on his first try at Navan, having previously given some home in bumpers. I could not explain as to what happened the last day, but that surely was not his running and given his bumper form, he would have a chance in a race as ordinary as this. Stuart Crawford’s horses have been running decently over the last few weeks and this horse is still being retained by Munir and Souede, so they must think there is ability somewhere. At a price of 9/1 with Paddy Power, he is an each way bet. 

And the final selection of the day comes in the lucky last race, which is the bumper over 2m at 5.15. I think it seems remiss to be going against a Willie Mullins bumper horse this year, and Sir Argus is a massive danger. However, I was very taken with the effort of Bellaney Lord on his first start for the Crawfords and if he returns in the same nick, he will be hard to beat in this race. He has been a late non-runner on a few occasions in recent weeks, so they have obviously been waiting for the right conditions to run him, and given his form – he could be quite smart. The Crawford team have become synonymous with sending out bumper winners in both Britain and Ireland, and I hope this horse can add to that good record. A general price of 15/8 seems fair.