Irish Horseracing Betting: Down Royal preview

005 Irish Racing / Darren Skelton / 03 September 2008 / Leave a Comment

Another seven race mixed card awaits us at Down Royal this evening and once again Ireland's fantastic Summer has given us more soft ground...Darren Skelton marks your card.

4.35

The first race on the card is a maiden hurdle with twenty contestants. A very difficult start to the card so my advice would be to keep bets to a minimum. If you are looking to have a bet though, it would probably be wise to stick with the essential Walsh/Mullins pairing. The Patriarch Game really doesn't need to find much improvement on his recent Cork run to win in this company and land an overdue hurdles success. Elsewhere in the field, Noble Commander is entitled to run well but I'm not sure that an extra 2 furlongs in this ground will be to his advantage and Global Position has to prove that he can stay this distance.

5:05

A trappy handicap awaits us in the Ulster Bank Corporate & Property Handicap hurdle. First off, Swampy Blue will need a cautionary look at the Betfair markets to see if he's hot or not. He's one of Tony Martin's animals and a race like this is well within his grasp. A fairly lightly raced horse for his age, Swampy Blue is only 5lbs higher today than when beating the useful Princess Nicole over the larger obstacles at Galway two runs ago. In this company I would suggest that he could be fairly hard to beat. - especially if the money comes. Elsewhere, Canulos and Another Biffo are dangerous and could make their presence felt.

5:35

Our first flat race on the card is another tremendously difficult race. A claimer over seven furlongs, it is essential that we follow the markets for clues in this one. Cairdiuil has all the characteristics of a dark horse with one run and one win to its name - if they come for this one it could tell a fairly predictable story. If not it's probably left to Jim Bolger's Positive Event to claim the prize money. This is probably his level after a not so uninspiring run at Leopardstown last time and because Jim was the previous trainer of Cairdiuil you'd imagine that he knows the standard needed to win this kind of race.

6:05

Barizan came up against some hot opposition last time but should hold all the aces for this nursery today. John Oxx's horse was beaten 2 lengths by Greannmhar last time but could probably have made his run a little earlier, he was eventually eased when it became apparent to the jockey that he wasn't going to catch the eventual winner - all signs point to a compensating win today.

6:35

Her Majesty's plate is the best race on tonight's card and Teacht An Earraig brings the best form to the table. She had a fairly pro-active time of it early on in the season and returns here after an 80 day break, this should be enough to rejuvenate the horse and return to winning ways. She was winning fairly high end handicaps before being raced in class and it can probably be argued that the trainer went to the well a little too often and a little too fast, the break should see her in a better light today. Bahrain Storm would be a threat if we knew he would cope with the distance but a usual hurdler would probably want a bit further than 1m4f.

7:05

A fairly poor enough race this one so if you're not having the best of meetings so far it will probably be best to sit this one out. An apprentice race as well, just to make things trickier - if you're on a winning streak and feeling a bit brave it might be worth chancing the serial loser Alf Tupper. I've received a tip for this one on numerous occasions so I understand the Olympic standard leap of faith that's needed to invest in this one again. There is a chance that a return to this trip could be the tonic that Alf Tupper has been waiting for so in a race only for the brave and beautiful...we'll take a chance on Alfie...

7:35

The last race on the card is a bumper and a fairly poor one at that. Most of you will have your own ideas about bumpers, whether or not to stay away from them, follow the money, or just back Mullins or Nina Carberry. Well, Willie doesn't have a runner in this one so it might be best to just stick with Nina and Clayton Chief - he also happens to have the best form in the book. It wouldn't be a race that I'd be having a bet in mind you...