Horse Racing Tips: Rhys Williams' 7/2, 50/1 & 66/1 Punchestown bets on Friday

• Easily won the 'trial' for this

• Doubts over rivals

• Private Ryan is overpriced at Punchestown

Punchestown - 15:40 - Back Private Ryan

De Nordener heads the market for the big race of the Punchestown Festival, the Bishopscourt Cup. He has the best point form of these and ran respectably over the banks on Tuesday but I have a bit of a concern over him over rules fences and going this way round as he has tended to jump out to the left, even on left handed tracks.

The Blind Piper would have a good chance if returning back to the form of his two wide-margin victories earlier in the season but he's been disappointing on his last two starts, dropping away late on.

The horse who beat him last time, Private Ryan, is the first of two selections in this race. They've used a variety of tactics with him and he seems to have responded best to being ridden prominently, having made all in a maiden when beating the now 115-rated Imperial Alex in a maiden back in 2022 and they reverted to more prominent tactics when he won the 'trial' for this race in late February. Along with Memories Never Die, he pulled clear of the field after jumping two out and then quickened away from that rival once turning in.

They went back to riding him more patiently last time and I think the combination of that and the very testing ground didn't see Private Ryan at his best. He's now back on better ground and I'm hoping they will look to go back to riding him handily, particularly since he's coming back in trip.

There is a slight concern over his jumping on his first start over rules fences but hopefully that will hold up and he can show his true ability. Any 7/24.50 or bigger appeals.

Punchestown - 15:40 - Back Mandilou

At a very big price I can't let Mandilou go unbacked in a race of this quality. I'm not sure she appreciate the switch to the banks course on Tuesday but she did manage to stay in touch until quickly dropping away before Ruby's Double.

Earlier in her career, she had shown a fair level of ability in points and a hunter chase. She ran well on the second start of her career when making a big move at the end of the back straight and getting into a battle with Intersky Sunset from some way out before not quite seeing out the trip. And she was in the process of following that up with another promising run until coming down at two out in a race won by Ah Whisht, who is now rated 109 over hurdles.

Mandilou didn't quite progress from those efforts as expected and she was a fortunate winner of a maiden on her final start in the pointing sphere but she was showing more on her first start in a hunter chase at Downpatrick when unlucky to come down on the flat. Having been held up, she had made progress to be just behind the leaders approaching three out when she was tightened for room and fell on the flat.

It might be that this incident has had a significant negative impact on her as she hasn't shown the same level of ability in either start since but if Mandilou could get back to that then she might not be out of this at a huge price given the quality of this race. Any 33/134.00 or bigger appeals.

Punchestown - 19:40 - Back Avalo

The front end of the market looks quite solid in the bumper but there's a horse making his bumper debut who I think could run well at a big price.

Avalo made his hurdling debut at Leopardstown over the Christmas meeting and showed some promise. He raced keenly in a prominent position early on before gradually settling a bit better. He was still close up behind the leaders jumping two out before that early keenness looked to take its toll and he faded to finish ninth.

That was a promising debut from Avalo in a good maiden hurdle and hopefully he will have learned plenty from the experience and can settle better through the early stages of this bumper. It may be that he's not quite up to the quality of some of these but I think he's overpriced given the ability he showed that day and any 25/126.00 or bigger appeals.

Now read Daryl Carter's Friday tips here.!

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