Punchestown Festival Betting / Kevin Blake / 22 April 2008 /

Timeform talk us through the three big races of the day including why Jered looks a decent bet and why Bahrain can kick up a real Storm.

Grade 1 vcbet.com Champion Novice Hurdle

Much of the focus is sure to be on Fiveforthree, who defied his relative inexperience to win the Ballymore Properties Novice Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, and he comes out comfortably on top in the Timeform ratings for the race. However, this significantly shorter trip has to be considered a negative and I would have serious doubts about his ability to reproduce his best form in this contest.

The one I prefer to him is the Noel Meade-trained Jered, who is rated 11 lbs inferior to Willie Mullins' charge on Timeform figures, but is considered capable of further improvement. He is a horse that hasn't helped himself in the past by running freely in the early stages of his races, but he was better in that regard last time and duly showed improved form to beat Made In Taipan in great style in a Grade 2 at Fairyhouse. With a handful of front runners in the field, one would have to be hopeful that the early pace will be a solid one, which will help Jered settle and he may just have too much pace for Fiveforthree at the latter end of proceedings.

Grade 1 Kerrygold Champion Chase

In what looks to be a well up to scratch renewal of the race, Paul Nicholls looks to have the answer in the shape of Twist Magic. A top novice chaser last season, he looked set to rule the two mile chase division when winning the Tingle Creek at Sandown earlier in the season.

However, his two runs since have been disappointing and plenty of people are sure to be having doubts about him. One thing to consider is that he was noted by the Timeform race reporter at Cheltenham as looking in poor condition before the Champion Chase, and for me, that gives him a genuine excuse for his below form performance.

Nicholls has given him a break since then and he wouldn't have brought him back to the racecourse again this season unless he felt he had him back in top form. While the tissue compilers have generally installed him as favourite, with the negatives surrounding him it wouldn't at all surprise me to see him drift, so it may be best to wait until close to the off to invest.

Gain Horse Feeds Handicap Hurdle

A strong case can be made for any number of the runners in this immensely competitive handicap hurdle, but the one I am favouring is the Pat Flynn-trained Bahrain Storm. He has appealed to me as the type to win a valuable handicap hurdle for quite a while, primarily based on his third to Punjabi in the Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle at the Punchestown Festival last season when he didn't seem to produce his very best.

However, he isn't as consistent as one would like him to be over hurdles, as his last two below form efforts over hurdles are testament to. That said, when he gets it right, he is very good. He has not run since December and missing out on the spring festivals thus far will do him no harm. He has a fair record when fresh and encouragingly, Pat Flynn saddled a winning seasonal debutant on the Flat last Friday. This will be his first run in a handicap hurdle and he should be well suited by the likely strong early pace. The prevailing going won't be a problem for him either and a big run is likely to be forthcoming from him.

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