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Top tips from the Thurles and Dundalk betting

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Our man across the Irish Sea looks ahead to the next few days of racing in the Emerald Isle...

Top of my 2007 list of new-year resolutions was to stop listening to tips. Ireland is known as 'the land of saints of scholars' but I think it should be known as the 'land of dodgy horse tips'.

Ireland has a love affair with racing, but everywhere you go, someone somewhere seems to have a tip. I'd reckon that Vodafone and O2 could put half of their Irish profits down to the amount of "good thing" texts that get circulated. Of course, most of them are essentially Chinese whispers, but I received a text yesterday from an old racing friend, which simply read:

"12.35 Fairyhouse, Supreme Ruler - plenty of place value"

Sticking to my self-imposed rules, I decided not to have a bet, only to see Supreme Ruler run home as 16/1 winner. I won't torture myself by checking what price Taffe's gelding was trading at on Betfair pre-race, but I'd guess it was pretty high. At times like this, one has two choices: wallow in self-pity over our bad luck, or else we can get up off our backside, start looking at the upcoming racecards, and try to create our own 'luck'.

I prefer the latter approach, and I'm cautiously optimistic that there are some good opportunities to wipe the blues away this week, with some interesting horses entered on the Irish scene....

Thursday

Earlier this month, I highlighted Willie Mullins' excellent win and profit rate at Thurles, and I'd say he's likely to add to that today. The first race on the card is the 12:25 beginner's chase, and Mullins' Scotsirish looks like he was aimed at this. He liked this distance as a hurdler, and I'm going to scour the place market for any value.

In the 14:05 novice hurdle, Cuchulain's Son seems way overpriced at 2.36 and should really be odds-on. A couple of weeks ago, he beat Mick the Man by a length-and-a-half which was no mean feat, and he looks like one for the notebook. If a Mullins horse wins any of the earlier races, I'd get on Cuchalain's Son quick, as I've no doubt his price will shorten up pre-race, allowing us a sneaky trade.

One Mullins horse that probably will go off odds-on is Royal Heritage, in the 14:35 Clonoulty hurdle. There's no denying his credentials and the eight year-old is clearly the best horse in the race, but with 16 runners, his price is looking a bit skinny to me. In fact, if it goes below 1.8, a lay is not out of the question. There might be some place value elsewhere, in the guise of Time To Sell who should put up a good fight and will be ready to exploit any mistakes.

Friday

Friday sees a return to the Polytrack at Dundalk, and as usual it's always worth noting Ger Lyons' horses for win and place value. At the moment, he has six horses declared, and among them is Turk (20:15) who came with a big run from the back last time out at the track. He finished fifth, and improvement is expected. His other notable entry is course and distance winner The God of Love (21:40) who stayed on extremely well and won here last time out at a great price.

Another trainer to note here is John Oxx, who has a one in four win rate, and is certainly enjoying the new all-weather scene in Ireland. He has three declared, but Essexford should improve on her last race here when she got boxed in slightly, and was very unlucky not to get a place.

Saturday

All eyes will be on Haydock and Ascot come Saturday, but take a peep from the corner of your eye on Gowran Park's action. In particular, make a note of horses trained by course specialist Noel Meade, who has a win rate of one in four, and has shown a fantastic profit of £33.37 to £1 stakes over the past five years. Again, the big fields should ensure that some nice win and place prices will be available.