Kevin Blake's Irish Racing Tips: Two horses to back at Dundalk this afternoon

Kevin Blake
16 August 2015

Kevin has two fancies from the racing at Dundalk today

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Racing returns to Dundalk this afternoon for a typically-competitive card of action and Kevin has found a couple of runners at big prices that he thinks will represent him well...

Recommended Bets

Back My Good Brother 1pts to win @ 13.012/1 or better – Dundalk 15:10
Back Manorov 1pts to win @ 7.06/1 or better – Dundalk 16:45

The Bar One Racing Mourne Handicap (15:10) is a very tight handicap and the one that makes appeal to me at a big price is the Tom McCourt-trained My Good Brother. Regular readers will recall that I sided with him on his penultimate start at Fairyhouse in which he endured a horrendously frustrating run through the race on his way to finishing a close fourth.

While he looked well treated off a mark that was 10lb lower than his career peak which he achieved in the middle of last season, the Fairyhouse run confirmed it. He has since run in a strong five-furlong handicap at this track a week later and he ran poorly. I can't find an obvious reason why, he was just well below his best.

However, readers of this column will know that I am always prepared to forgive one bad run, especially when the market overreacts to it on the horse's next start, and that is very much the case here. My Good Brother has a fine record at Dundalk in general, he is now 12lb lower than his career peak and he has an excellent draw to go to war from. At a double-figure price, he stands out as being the value in the race.

The other race of interest is the Fundraising Made Easy At Dundalk Stadium Apprentice Handicap (16:45). It really is the most difficult race on the card, but I've had a theory in mind for the Tom McCourt-trained Manorov for quite some time and I'd like to give it another swing with him.

The five-year-old has mostly run over trips of around a mile-and-a-quarter, but for me, he has always shaped as though a mile would suit him. He ran very well when dropped to that distance at this track in May, perhaps hitting the front a bit too soon and getting nailed by Chatterton close home. He has run over a mile as well nine furlongs at Leopardstown since then, but the ground was good-to-firm on both occasions and given that he does lift his knee quite a bit, I suspect he wasn't really enjoying the surface. Even considering that, he shaped better than the result on the most recent of those outings, with him being put into the race too early on the wide outside on the home turn before understandably weakening inside the final furlong.

While he has already shown his best form at Dundalk, since they flipped the track prior to the last meeting, the vibe is that the surface is riding a bit more forgiving than it had been previously, and that will be a help to him. In addition, he is now tried in a first-time visor and he appeals to me as one that will be helped by that headgear.

While I am usually reluctant to play in apprentice races, as I find it more difficult to predict the run of the race in them, Donnacha O'Brien is a good booking for Manorov and the hope is that they go an even or faster pace early on so he can be delivered with his challenge late in the day.

Recommended Bets

Back My Good Brother 1pts to win @ 13.012/1 or better - Dundalk 15:10
Back Manorov 1pts to win @ 7.06/1 or better - Dundalk 16:45

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