Cheltenham Tips / Wayne Bailey / 11 March 2009 / Leave a comment

The Irish horses and jockeys are in flying form at the festival, and have already surprised speculators with their sheer number of wins at the half-way stage. Our man from Ireland has been showing a decent profit backing and laying horses from the Emerald Isle, and hopes to continue his success on Thursday...

As an Irishman, even I'm surprised at the amount of wins we've had at the festival - and as much as I dislike the whole Irish/UK competition, it's giving our little nation a great boost during these times of doom and gloom. We all need something to celebrate now and then, and the black stuff has been streaming out of the taps each evening at the Cotswolds making a mockery of the recession that's gripped our respective countries. Let's look ahead to Thursday, and I hope I can build on the profit accumulated thus far:

You can call me a cheater if you like, but a horse that's trained and ridden by an Irishman is good enough for me in this column, and Kia Kaha can get backers off to a good start in The Jewson Novices' Handicap Chase at 1:30. Jonjo O'Neill has been working hard to sort out the jumping mistakes the horse has been having, and his current odds of [9.60] on the machine are way too big. He's really come into his own since he's gone chasing and should have enough to keep Chapoturgeon and Northern Alliance at bay.

Tony Martin runs Green Mile in the Pertemps Handicap Hurdle at 2:05, but as I've stated a number of times on these pages, the County Meath handler hasn't had a single win in 2009 and his horses can't be backed with any degree of confidence right now. In fact, I'm happy to lay Green Mile for the place as this race looks competitive and a good case could be made for at least seven horses.

Once again, I'm going to suggest laying a Tony Martin horse in the place market for the Freddie Williams Festival Plate at 4:00. The late great Freddie Williams was a fearless layer and wasn't afraid to take on the 'Sundance Kid' JP McManus in the betting ring in the days of yore. But Freddie also loved getting money in the satchel for the race that's now named after him - as it's traditionally the worst race of the festival for punting purposes. A number of Irish punters that I know are planning to back Newbay Prop, but the opposition are just too strong and I think the ten-year-old will struggle as soon as he turns the bend.

Summary

Back Kia Kaha (1:30)
Lay Green Mile in the place market (2:05)
Lay Newbay Prop in the place market (4:00)

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