Leopardstown Betting Preview: Thursday July 24th

005 Irish Racing / Editor / 24 July 2008 / Leave a Comment

It's Miller time! Darren Skelton has scoured Thursday's Miller party night card at Leopardstown and has found some decent betting opportunities on what is a quality evening of flat racing.

Another day, another dollar...isn't that what they say. A good crowd is expected at Leopardstown on Thursday night for a proper race meeting and hopefully between us we can find a few winners.

5:55pm Irish Stallion Farms European Breeders Fund Median Auction Maiden (2yo)

Yikes...it's another ghastly maiden. A real puzzle for punters with few clues in the way of form. As always with these types of races, a market check of all the horses is vital, no horse can ever be ruled out of a maiden. The favourite on the night will probably be Maybe Grace who ran a promising race last time out but was very green - she probably has the talent to win a few races but will she be race-smart enough for only her second visit to the track? If you're having a bet in this race, you have to just trust that she'll come on for the run because on form - she's our winner. The Maestro, Aidan O Brien has Gluteus Maximus in this but he finished well beaten on his only start to date, a fair level of improvement would be needed to take this similar contest. So watch the markets on this for clues, but without the benefit of them now, the winner has to be Maybe Grace.

6:25 Tyros Stakes (Group 3) (2yo) £33,507.35

Poor turn out for this Group three with a very nice purse for a Thursday night. Four runners and competitive enough but it's probably safe to assume that it will boil down to a match race between Cuis Ghaire for the Bolger yard and Rip Van Winkle from the O Brien Yard. We definitely know more about Chuis Ghaire because she's at the head of a lot of Classic markets for next year and it's probably safe to assume she'll be odds-on here. The penny dropped in fine style at Ascot and she looks a serious race horse. Rip Van Winkle has only one race behind him but it was impressive and he merits the "Dark horse" tag here. He really could be anything so if he went above a certain price...say 4.0 it wouldn't be the world's worst idea to have a bet. Right now though, Chuis Ghaire has less to prove so has to be called the likeliest winner.

7: 30 Coyle Hamilton Willis Fillies Handicap (3yo+,60-85) £7,367.28

A tricky handicap (what handicaps are not tricky?) that will probably have two horses vying for favouritism - Boule Masquee and Belclare. My suspicion is that Belclare was given a peach of a ride last time and with everything in its favour couldn't quite gain its first win since it lost the maidan tag back in August 07. Boule Masquee is a different story however - he won with some authority on Sunday and is an obvious shoice to follow up with his mandatory penalty. Potential dangers include Capall An Ibre and Fancy Feathers but we love to see horses turned out again quickly - so strike while the iron's hot!

8:00 Meld Stakes (Group 3) (3yo+) £33,455.88

We're spoilt for choice with another Group three on the card. Again a poor turn out but this one could be a lot more competitive with all four horses in with a conceivable chance of victory. King of Westphalia didn't do himself any favours last time and will need to bounce back to win this one, so although that wouldn't be impossible, we'll just assume that it won't happen. So that leaves three and King of Rome may be the most popular of the three. Fresh from a respectable run in a group one in Germany, King of Rome returns to a more realistic challenge here and although Lord Admiral and Mustameet are dangers in this type of race, I'd personally be disappointed if King of Rome didn't get back to winning ways here.

8:35 Roughan & O'Donovan "Des Kernan Memorial" Handicap (3yo+,60-100) £13,402.94

Another tough handicap - a decent one too it has to be said. Jumbo Rio is a horse in fine fettle at the moment and a return to 1m 4f is a tick the right box for him tonight. If I was to narrow this race down to three horses it would be him, Dand Nee and Old Chatham. Dand Nee needs things to fall right, but if they do on the night she's a danger to all. Old Chatham was a shock winner at Leopardstown last time and there's always the chance that the penny has dropped about this racing game and another win could be on the cards. These are live animals after all and, like you and I, are very hard to predict! The safest option maybe Jumbo Rio though because he's definitely in good heart at the moment and the return to this trip is a big advantage.

Recommended bets:
1. Maybe Grace 5.55pm
2. Cuis Ghaire 6.25pm
3. Boule Masque 7.30pm
4. King of Rome 8.00pm
5. Jumbo Rio 8.35pm