Kevin Blake's Irish Racing Tips: A trio of selections from Sunday's card at Sligo

Kevin Blake
03 May 2015

Kevin has three selections from the meeting at Sligo this afternoon

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With testing ground now prevailing at Sligo, this afternoon's card has a notably tricky look about it, but Kevin Blake believes he has found some likely winners at fair prices that will thrive in the prevailing conditions...

Recommended Bets (All Sligo)

Back No Way Jack 1pt Win @ 6.411/2 & Place @ 2.01/1 - 14:55

Back Vasoni 2pts @ 4.47/2 - 15:30

Back Whats The Plot 1pt Win @ 8.415/2 & Place @ 3.412/5 - 17:10

The first race of interest is the www.countysligoraces.com Handicap (14:55). Many of you might expect me to row in with the Pat Martin-trained No Way Jack after I was very sweet on him at Gowran Park last Sunday prior to him being declared a non-runner, and that is exactly what I'm going to do!

I went into detail on the reasons why I like him last week and while in an ideal world, the ground would be firmer than it will be here, he handled yielding-to-soft ground well enough at Gowran Park last time to suggest he has fair prospects of acting on this ground.

As much as anything, I'm just surprised he is as big a price as he is. He was a shorter price for a 16-runner handicap full of unexposed types last weekend than he is for this eight-runner contest with mostly more exposed types in it, which encourages me to keep the faith in him despite the slight ground concern. He has an excellent draw and with more than a couple of pacey types in the race, it should set up nicely for him.

The next race that appeals is the Sligo GAA Race Day August 18th Handicap (15:30) and it presents the opportunity to exploit an angle that I always look for at this venue.

Testing ground at Sligo is something of a niche test in Irish racing. Whatever it is about the soil composition up there, some horses that go on testing ground elsewhere just don't seem to handle it there and wherever possible, I like to side with horses that are proven in such conditions at the course. The one that fits that bill the best in this contest is the Tim Doyle-trained Vasoni.

The seven-year-old is a capable performer at this level when she gets her conditions and without doubt, there is no track and ground combination that suits her betters than testing ground at Sligo. She has won twice in such circumstances and following a quiet season last year, she has dropped to an attractive mark.

She showed more than enough at Naas last time to suggest she can win again, with her meeting with interference at a crucial stage prior to flashing home under a considerate ride to finish a close fourth. One suspects that this race will have been her target for quite some time and with her being well drawn, everything looks to have dropped right for her.

The final bit of action of the day comes in the Guinness Handicap (17:10) and the one I'm interested in is the Kevin Prendergast-trained Whats The Plot. The three-year-old got his mark after three runs over totally inadequate trips of six and seven furlongs and showed more when upped to a mile for his handicap debut at Dundalk in February.

Caught wide after missing the kick, the race turned into a bit of a sprint and he was caught a bit flatfooted prior to doing some solid work inside the final furlong. This longer trip is much closer to his optimum and his action suggests that he can cope with this more testing surface. In a race where holes can be picked in many of his main rivals, he is worth siding with.

Recommended Bets (All Sligo)

Back No Way Jack 1pt Win @ 6.411/2 & Place @ 2.01/1 - 14:55
Back Vasoni 2pts @ 4.47/2 - 15:30
Back Whats The Plot 1pt Win @ 8.415/2 & Place @ 3.412/5 - 17:10