Irish Horseracing Betting: Dundalk Preview

005 Irish Racing / Darren Skelton / 15 September 2008 / Leave a Comment

A herculean eight race card awaits us at Dundalk this evening with the first race kicking off at 5:50. Here's the picks of the bunch...

5:50

There are three maidens on this evening's Dundalk card so we're going to have to include one. As usual bets should be kept to a minimum because we don't know how good or bad these horses are yet. Pursuit of Glory has one race under his belt so far but that was a fairly promising effort and she's going to have to be our selection here. That race came on this track over 5 furlongs and as is the case with so many maidens she finished strongly and is now running over a furlong more. With a normal amount of improvement, she should take this.

7:20

Grand Admiral will surely be popular for the generally unstoppable O Brien/Murtagh team but I'm going to side with a horse that I selected last time but didn't get the run of the race. It's make or break time for Cairdiul in a race like this and if he doesn't fulfil his potential here then he'll be resigned to claimers and low grade handicaps for the rest of his career. Pat Prendergast's colt reared twice in the stalls at Down Royal last time losing valuable ground and then was squeezed in the final furlong when about to make his challenge, he finished strongly and in a fairly run race could make an impact today.

7:50

Girouette stands out in a race like this just because she's lightly raced and probably has the most scope for improvement out of all these. It didn't take her long to make an impact in handicaps and her last race over this course and distance was a very promising second and there must surely be improvement to come. Of the others, Bobby Jane has some decent form to his name and should be watched closely in the betting for clues of his race fitness after a break. Headford View likes Dundalk but is going to have to find more improvement to win again today. We'll stick with Girouette in the hope that after only two races, she has more to offer.

8:20

Another maiden, but one in which a potentially obvious winner stands out. Designated Decoy comes here off the back of two decent second placed efforts, one at Fairyhouse and the most recent at Galway. The most recent effort came at the festival where he was beaten by a horse who went on to finish second in the Irish Cambridgeshire. In the face of a Dundalk maiden, that's good form. As usual, because of the nature of the race, there are dangers lurking everywhere. Jim Bolger has an unraced horse called Pleasureman who could be anything. Course specialist Ger Lyons runs Ashka, who is a consistent performer and probably deserves to pick up a race like this. On a recent start she finished 2 lengths in front of Baron De'l who won the Premier Handicap at the Curragh on Saturday. If we were to take that form at face value then Ashka would have to be considered.

8:50

The first division of the Knockbridge Handicap is a nightmare for punters to figure out. In a race like this it wouldn't be that much of a surprise to see any of the 14 horses win, so where do we start? Weybridge Light looks like starting favourite but didn't show a keen attitude at Tramore last time and also hasn't shown anything to suggest that he likes Dundalk. Sian Thomas has to put a poor effort last time behind him but is a danger on previous form. Our tentative vote goes Wings of Dawn who fell over hurdles last time but showed some form before that to suggest that he was going in the right direction.

9:20

The second division of the Knockbridge Handicap is just as difficult to untangle as the first. Look out for any money for Pekan One from the John Carr yard, generally when their money is down, it's not left behind. Alf Tupper has been given numerous chances and has thrown away easier opportunities than this so simply can't be backed. Dbest and Eye Candy are very closely matched, form wise, but haven't done a whole lot recently to warrant a bet, even in a poor race like this. We're going to side with Key to my Heart who was well backed at this venue last time when making a comeback run and finishing a decent third. That was after a 675 day layoff and if she was fancied to run well that day then she should really be fancied today after that run because she can be expected to improve considerably for it.