Irish Racing / Wayne Bailey / 09 April 2009 / Leave a comment

Wayne Bailey takes a look at the big races as the 2009 festival gets underway this Sunday...

The Irish Grand National was first run back in 1870 and the winner of the inaugural race was a horse named 'Sir Robert Peel' - however, one of my favourite Irish Grand National stories is that of Frank Wise, who won the big race on board a mare called 'Alike' despite the jockey missing three fingers and riding with a wooden leg!

The 2009 Fairyhouse Festival begins this Sunday and we've plenty of tops class action to look forward to until the meeting closes with the bumper on Wednesday. Here's a look at the main races, jockeys and trainers...

Sunday, 3:45 - Powers Gold Cup (Grade 1)
The Powers Gold Cup is a Grade One 2m4f Novice Chase for horses aged five and upwards. Fitness is essential in this race and all winners in the past decade had raced within the previous two months. Make a note of horses that have proven themselves around the distance as ten of the past 12 victors were previously successful over 2m2f to 2m4f. Course form is a positive too and nearly all winners in recent times had a win under the belt at Fairyhouse. There was a small field of just four last year and the prize went to the most experienced chaser in the field, Conna Castle - at the expense of Big Zeb. Conna Castle made a mistake a few furlongs out and done well to make up ground quickly in the final stages. This year's entries include Aran Concerto, Trafford Lad, Barker and Jayo.

Monday, 3:55 - Powers Whiskey Irish Grand National Chase (Grade A)
The Irish Grand National is the richest race on the Irish National Hunt calendar with a prize fund of €250,000. It's a 3m5f extended Handicap Chase for horses aged five and upwards. Just one horse in the past decade has won carrying 11 stone or more, namely Commanche Court back in 2000. Seven-year-olds have a reasonable record winning six of the past ten renewals. Last year's winner Hear The Echo, trained by Mouse Morris, was unfancied going off at [54.0] on Betfair and just ten horses finished the race. Sadly, Hear The Echo collapsed and died in the final stages of the 2009 Aintree Grand National following a relatively strong performance. At the time of writing, the market leader is Willie Mullins' Emma Jane, followed by Arbor Supreme and Cheltenham star Wichita Lineman.

Tuesday, 2:45 - Easter Festival Novice Hurdle
The Festival Novice Hurdle is a 2m4f race for horses aged four and upwards. French-bred horses have a relatively poor record in this contest so it may be worth sticking with the Irish and British. Six-year-old horses have dominated in recent years and have won the past five renewals. All winners in the past decade were proven over the 2m to 2m4f distance and all were priced [8.0] or under. Both Noel Meade and Willie Mullins have good records here, and the prize has gone to one or other of those trainers six times in the last decade. Last year's winner Cooldine has since clocked up three wins including the RSA Chase at the 2009 Cheltenham festival.

The Trainers
John Kiely is one to watch at this course and usually has a trick or two up his sleeve. Tom Taaffe also has a good record at Fairyhouse with his hurdlers being particularly noteworthy.

The Jockeys
Not surprisingly, the top jockeys get plenty of good rides here and Tony McCoy has had 14 winners from 52 races (26.92%) at the Fairyhouse course since 2003 showing a profit of eight points to level stakes. Ruby Walsh also boasts an impressive strike-rate with 50 wins from 213 races (23.47%) in that time period, but shows a loss if blindly followed.

Best of luck with your Fairyhouse betting!

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