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Punchestown Punts: Wayne Bailey's early views on the big race betting

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Our Irish racing expert has some fancies for you from the last jumps festival of the calendar

It's the last big jumps festival of the year, so let's hope it's a profitable one. There's a number that have caught my eye on day one, Tuesday 22nd April...

3:05 - vcbet.com Champion Novice Hurdle

Iktitaf, Brave Inca, Moscow Flyer... they've all won this race in the past, and hopefully another star will emerge this year. There's quite a large number of entries at the early stages, but there are a few that catch my eye and hopefully they'll make the final line-up.

Between the two of them, Edward O'Grady- and Noel Meade-trained horses have won this race seven times in the past ten years, and Meade's Jered might have what it takes. He won easily at Fairyhouse last time out, and I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot about him next season.

Tranquil Sea is an interesting entry from O'Grady, and came back to winning form at Limerick recently after a disappointing Supreme Novices' race at Cheltenham. The winner of that race Captain Cee Bee should also run here, and is certainly hard to ignore. Throw another Cheltenham winner Fiveforthree into the mix and we've the makings of a cracking race. There's no point sitting on the fence however, so I'm going to have a win bet each on Jered and Tranquil Sea. Fiveforthree will carry my place money.

4.15 - Kerrygold Champion Chase

The final line-up is still not definite at this early stage, but it looks like the Paul Nicholls trio of Master Minded, Takeroc and Twist Magic may give this one a miss, with the latter likely to go straight to Sandown. Nicholls keeps his hopes alive with Natal, a faller last time out at Aintree. However, younger animals have a poor record in this contest and no horse under the age of eight has won in the past decade.

Newmill won this race two years ago, but he's gone downhill sharply since then, and I've a sad feeling that the once great ten-year-old has had his day. Winner of the Cheltenham Grand Annual Chase, Tiger Cry won't be without his supporters and he seems to have aged well. A slight negative is that all recent winners had a Racing Post Rating above 150, but if he runs, he is definitely a live threat. I must admit that I much prefer Moore's other gelding, Mansony. Admittedly, he's been a bit of a letdown this season, but I feel that they just haven't found the right races for him. He won this last year, and the trip suits him down to the ground. I'd be very surprised if he's not right up there in the finish, so I'm going to get stuck in to him in the place market.

The most interesting horse for me however, is Schindlers Hunt. He failed to deliver at both Cheltenham and Aintree, but he's not a horse that travels well, and always performs much better on home turf here in Ireland. He came back to winning ways at Fairyhouse recently, and although this is a step up in class, he should be able to handle it fine. A previous win at Punchestown is always a bonus at this difficult track, and he's worth a few quid in the win market at what will hopefully be a nice price.

5.25 - Goffs Land Rover Bumper

With a win-rate of 42%, Colm Murphy's horses simply must be backed in bumpers here. Fair enough it's a small sample (12 races), but he also has a great record in bumpers overall, and I always take note of his horses. He has a number entered at the early stages, but needless to say, whichever horses run, they should be given plenty of consideration.

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