Punchestown Wednesday Tips: Kevin Blake backs Salvador Ziggy to challenge Gaelic Warrior

• Irish racing expert's tips for Wednesday at Punchestown

• Ziggy can star against short-price favourite

• Gallant John Joe can run a big race

Day two of the Punchestown Festival is upon us on Wednesday. With a bit of luck, the sun will shine, the racegoers will flood in and we'll manage to find a winner or two.

Back Ziggy to take on Warrior

Punchestown 17:20

The Irish Mirror Novice Hurdle (17:20) presents all of us with a real conundrum in the shape of the short-priced favourite Gaelic Warrior. To be clear, I'm a big fan of the horse. Indeed, I made him one of the better bets of the Cheltenham Festival prior to him finishing second in the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle.

That was his first try at a mid-range trip and, while he hit the line well enough after proving to be a somewhat difficult ride, I'm not at all sure that stepping up to three miles is what he wants right now.

One can see why they have done it as doing so avoids both Facile Vega and his Cheltenham conqueror Impaire Et Passe, but he may be more vulnerable at the distance than his current price suggests.

The one I like against him is the Gordon Elliott-trained Salvador Ziggy.

The seven-year-old has a different sort of profile in that he has come up the ranks in a much quieter manner than the favourite, but he showed he is a smart performer when finishing second in the Pertemps Final at the Cheltenham Festival with just the well-handicapped Good Time Jonny proving too strong for him despite not getting the clearest of runs.

Salvador Ziggy has no stamina worries and appeals as being open to more improvement. The prevailing conditions will also suit him and he comes into this race as a relatively fresh horse with his outing at Cheltenham having been his first since November.

He ticks a lot of boxes and represents a very solid alternative to the favourite.

Gallant John Joe can run a big race

Punchestown - 19:05

The HSS Hire Handicap Chase (19:05) is a fiercely-competitive contest and the one that I've landed on is the Oliver McKiernan-trained Gallant John Joe. He hardly has the most obvious of profiles being a 10-year-old that is still a maiden over fences, but there is some mitigation that is worth fleshing out.

He was a smart performer over hurdles and clearly showed a preference for a sounder surface. However, just one of his nine starts over fences has come on ground that Timeform described as better than soft and on that occasion he was beaten less than eight lengths in a Grade 1 novice chase won by Notebook.

He has also shown up well on unsuitably soft ground, most notably when a close fourth in the valuable Leopardstown Handicap Chase off a 6lb higher mark just over a year ago.

On his most recent start he got to tackle a sounder surface on his return to hurdling and duly returned to form by finishing second in a handicap hurdle at this track in February. As long as the rain hasn't got into the ground too much, it wouldn't be at all surprising to see him run a big race on his return to chasing.