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Irish Horseracing Betting: Sligo Preview

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On a wet and miserable Tuesday evening, where else would we want to be than racing in Sligo? A seven race mixed card awaits so let's see if we can beat our three winners at Downpatrick yesterday. Darren Skelton marks your card.

5:05

A valuable enough fillies auction race kicks off the card and probable favourite Cool Tarifa will take all the beating. This daughter of One Cool Cat is taking a marked step down in class and by rights should be able to take this contest. Her form behind the useful Cuis Ghaire stands out in this company and although Lough Mist is a horse on the upgrade, she may just have to wait her turn.

5:35

Incline will probably be a short price to take this claimer. He won a similar race at Leopardstown back in July before heading for a valuable handicap in Galway, where he had to settle for fifth. This race is not as tough as that race and he has the advantage of running at a track where he has already won three times. Course form at a track like Sligo is vital.

6:05

The Eamon Scanlon handicap is definitely one for the puzzle lovers. There are more duck eggs on show here than on Old McDonalds's farm. The race is between the horses that filled some manner of a place in their last race, and a horse who has five big fat zeros in his form line. That horse is The Chip Chipchop Man. All his subsequent form at this track and his last run, over the obstacles, was a lot more promising than the things he had been doing before then. As I've said, course form is very important here and The Chip Chipchop Man obviously has that in his favour but he also seems to be coming into some sort of form just in time.

6:35

A maiden hurdle with a short priced favourite. The Bay Lad is tackling Sligo for the first time but is the most consistent horse in this field. This wouldn't be a race I'd be having a bet in, obviously because it's a maiden but also because the favourite is unused to the track. All things beings said though he holds the best pieces of form in the book and going on that he should record his first win today.

7:05

A juicy handicap hurdle and we're going to take a chance on Lugnatana at a double figure price. Getting a lot of weight from her rivals, this horse was doing some good work at the finish last time at this venue. The ground will offer no problems today and I think a more prominent position early may lead to a precious first win for this one.

7:35

Another Maiden hurdle and yet another short priced favourite - Caim Hill, this one however seems absolutely bomb proof. I received a tip for him last time out but it came too late for me because I had already backed Frascati Park, the horse that finished runner up that day. Frascati Park was apparently very useful after annihilating a field of decent horses in a previous race. McCoy had apparently sat on him and said he thought he was useful, all I had to do was put my money down, wait a few minutes, and collect. But Caim Hill spoiled the party. What makes this horse even more special is the fact that he lost a lot of ground when almost being carried out in that last race...this one could really be a decent horse and only I'll be shocked if it's beaten today.

8:05

The last race on the card is the traditional bumper, but with a fairly poor turn out and another short priced favourite. Hopefully by this point you've already made your money because if you haven't, this is not a viable getting out stakes.