Fairyhouse Easter Festival Betting: Tuesday

005 Irish Racing / Wayne Bailey / 25 March 2008 / Leave a Comment

Wayne Bailey takes us through his fancies on this, the final day of the Fairyhouse Easter festival.

The Fairyhouse Easter festival has always been one of the highlights of the Irish racing calendar, and has produced many heroes and villains along the way. It'll be hard to top the story of Frank Wise, who won the Grand National with a wooden leg and missing three fingers back here in 1929!

We may not witness such exploits nowadays, but hopefully we can still have cause for cheer, with some winners on the final day. There's some decent racing in store again today, so here's my best bets to finish off the festival:

2:45 - Tattersalls Ireland Dan Moore Memorial Handicap Chase

Mansony may be carrying top weight, but I don't think 11st 10lbs will be enough to hold him back if he runs to form today. A lot of people have been put off him after he was pulled up in the Queen Mother, but every horse can have off days, and Davy Russell mentioned afterwards that he simply wasn't travelling at all. He tends to jump to the right slightly, so the wide clockwise track at Fairyhouse will minimise this minor flaw. Another interesting entry is Charlie Swan's One Cool Cookie, a horse that is rarely out of the frame no-matter what the opposition. The distance is not ideal, but he's one to keep onside in the place market.

4.25 Gleesons Meats Handicap Chase

Jessica Harrington may not have a great record at this track, but Magnesium can set things right for her today. I've always though this eight-year-old has plenty of potential, but he's easily distracted in-running and doesn't seem to focus on the task at hand. Blinkers last time out at Naas however, worked wonders. He made all the running and won by an impressive 14 lengths beating Fivestar Alstars into second. Fivestar Alstars is definitely one to keep an eye on too, and offers the best of the place value.

4.55 Menolly Homes Handicap Chase

Tony Martin had the layers shaking in their boots yesterday, and the massive gamble on the Irish Grand National nearly paid off. He can find winning ways again today however, with Hold The Pin - a versatile sort who can hold his own over both hurdles and fences. Timmy Murphy rides him for the first time, and he looks like banker material. His participation however, will depend on the ground, so hopefully the rain that is expected will materialise. For those looking for some outsider value, Rossdee Lad has been treated quite leniently in the weights. It's well over a year since his last win, but I still believe he holds some potential, and jockey DJ Casey has a cracking win rate of one in four in chases here.

5.25 Eventus Marquees Handicap Chase

I've been on hand to witness a couple of decent performances by French Thyne on the point-to-point scene, and was slightly disappointed that he couldn't follow up in the Foxhunters last time out at Cheltenham. It's hard to know what to take from that race however, with many of the market leaders running below par. The big danger is Climate Control, fourth in the Foxhunters last time out. O'Connor can use his jockey claim on this occasion however, so we could have a decent battle on our hands. Green Wellies hasn't done much wrong to date winning two point-to-point races, and one under rules. He's certainly a very live outsider.

Lay of the Day

He has a great record on the flat, but it's four years since dual-purpose trainer Mick Halford has had a jumps winner at Fairyhouse. On this basis, it's hard to have confidence in Altnauda today (2.15).

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