Tipping / Timeform / 22 April 2010 /

Timeform's Billy Nash casts his eye over Thursday's card at Punchestown and has found two horses he wants to keep on side, and one he wants to be against.

A field of 23 are set to face the starter in the Aon Insurance Hurdle, a race confined to horses that have not won more than one race over hurdles, but it can quickly be whittled down to just a handful of realistic contenders. Roi du Mee, Our Gar and the Willie Mullins-trained pair, Cuchulains Son and Quadrillon look the best of the home contingent but they will all need to improve if they are to beat AINAMA. Nicky Henderson's gelding finished sixth to Jessie's Dream in the corresponding race last year but this year's renewal doesn't look nearly so competitive and he has been holding his own in better races than this of late.

In contrast to the first race, the Ernst & Young Handicap Chase at 4:15 is a wide-open affair with a whole host of horses in with a chance. With a few confirmed front runners, notably Coscorrig and Kranji, there is likely to be plenty of pace on and it could well be set up for one who likes to come from behind. LILYWHITEDANCER is sure to have his supporters after gaining his second win over fences at Navan last time but he looks on a very stiff mark for what he has actually achieved, a whopping 29 lb higher than his only previous start in a handicap over hurdles last year. He lacks experience for this sort of test and, given his likely odds, he looks best opposed. My two against the field are Jubilant Note and Rock Street. Jubilant Note has plenty of weight to carry but is as game as a pebble and can be expected to run a big race on his first start for Gordon Elliott, whilst Rock Street is best at a bare two miles and this is the first time this season that he will have conditions in his favour.

The La Touche Cup, one of the traditional highlights of the Punchestown Festival, takes place over the unique banks course at 4.50. This doesn't look a particularly strong renewal and L'Ami, trained by Enda Bolger, the undisputed king of banks races, will be hard to beat despite his welter burden of 12-3.

The big race of the day is the Ladbrokes.com World Series Hurdle and, despite the absence of Big Buck's, it looks an absolutely fascinating contest. Powerstation and Karabak finished third and fourth respectively at Cheltenham and both can be expected to go well again. Karabak's trainer Alan King also runs Bensalem who is on something of a retrieval mission after a hitherto disappointing season over fences, comments which also apply to Jessie's Dream. Willie Mullins sets a real poser for punters here by running Cousin Vinny, Mourad and his dual Cheltenham winner Quevega. Paul Townend has, understandably, opted to ride Quevega but that may well mean that MOURAD, a very impressive winner of a Grade 3 at Fairyhouse, is sent off at a bigger price than would otherwise be the case and the son of Sinndar just gets the vote.

The other Grade 1 on the card, the Ryanair Novice Chase at 6:40, brings together a handful who failed to live up to expectations, to varying degress, in the equivalent races at Cheltenham and Aintree. Osana is arguably the one to beat having been placed at both of the aforementioned meetings but three Grade 1 races in just over a month is asking a lot of any horse. Captain Cee Bee and Sports Line both had legitimate excuses for their poor performances in the Arkle and they should be suited by this track, whilst Riverside Theatre and Psycho have both won two of their three starts over fences and come here on the back of relatively light campaigns.

The other races on the card are a big-field three-mile handicap hurdle, in which Tony Martin's veteran ROYAL COUNTY STAR looks very interesting off what looks a favourable mark (23 lb higher over fences), and a very competitive bumper featuring no less than twelve previous winners.

4:15 - Place Lay - Lilywhitedancer

5:30 - Win Back - Mourad

6:05 - Win Back - Royal County Star

Free form for all today's racing at Punchestown and elsewhere is available at the TImeform website

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