Tag: Ruby Walsh

Punchestown Festival – Friday Preview

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

There are two Grade 1 races on Friday at Punchestown and Willie Mullins looks set to win them both. He saddles the Cheltenham first and second in the Champion Hurdle and has four entries in the Champion Novice event.

Mullins has dominated the Grade 1 races all week and opposition to his star hurdlers has dried up here. There are only two rivals to Faugheen and Arctic Fire and both look well out of the depth. Faugheen only had a length and a half to spare over his stable companion at Cheltenham but had the race won a long way from the finish.

Ruby Walsh is one of the finest judges of pace in the jockeys’ room and he made sure that the Champion Hurdle did not turn into a crawl. Arctic Fire was held up in the rear and ran on past beaten horses to finish second. That was a fine effort and he looked set to go one better at Aintree when taking a crashing fall at the last flight. Fortunately, both he and Walsh escaped relatively unscathed. Walsh will once again look to dictate matters here with Paul Townend presumably trying to keep closer tabs on the favourite. The outcome will probably be the same as at the festival.

Mullins and Walsh then team up for Nichols Canyon in a much more competitive Champion Novice Hurdle. The former John Gosden inmate is one of four Mullins-trained runners here, although he looks much the best on form.

He was classy enough to finish second in a Group 3 on the flat and his only defeats over hurdles can be excused. He unseated his rider at Leopardstown in December and refused to settle when finishing third at Cheltenham. He was always cantering over his rivals at Aintree before easing to a four and a half length win over Parlour Games. That shows that his Cheltenham form was all wrong and he is the one to beat on Friday.

The pick of his stable companions may be Outlander who was well beaten when runner-up to Shaneshill at Fairyhouse. He had previously finished sixth at Cheltenham and has ground to make up on Nichols Canyon on that evidence. Sempre Medici was a creditable sixth in the County Hurdle before winning Grade 2 at Fairyhouse over two miles. He is unproven over this trip while Alpha Des Obeaux could emerge as the biggest danger.

The Mouse Morris-trained gelding was second to Supreme Hurdle winner Douvan here in January and looked booked for the runner-up spot at Aintree when falling at the last. Thistlecrack went on to win the race and finished a close second here earlier in the week.

Nichols Canyon @10-11 Skybet

Punchestown Festival – Tuesday Preview

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

The Punchestown festival gets under way on Tuesday with a number of Cheltenham winners in action on the opening day.

Douvan got Willie Mullins and Ruby Walsh off to a flyer at Cheltenham when living up to expectations in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. He reappears in the Champion Novice Hurdle at 4.20 and is impossible to oppose. Sizing John was seven lengths adrift at the festival and looks clear second-best here.

Punters are unlikely to get rich by supporting RSA Chase winner Don Poli at 6.40 either. He was one of the most impressive winners of the meeting in the RSA Chase and is now one of the market leaders for next season’s Gold Cup. It remains to be seen just how good a race it was this year but there will be some long faces in the unsaddling enclosure if he fails to win on Tuesday.

Just as in Douvan’s race, the biggest threat looks likely to come from a horse that was behind at Cheltenham. Wounded Warrior was an honourable third, eight lengths behind Don Poli.

If those two races look like a cakewalk for Mullins, the same cannot be said for the Champion Chase at 5.30. He runs three here, led by Champagne Fever. The grey came within inches of completing a third successive victory at the festival when beaten on the nod in the Arkle Chase last season. His chasing career has spluttered along since, seemingly with no clear indication of what his best trip is. Mullins seemed convinced that it was two and a half miles after he failed to stay in the King George but is now reverting to two miles. My guess is that Ruby Walsh will try to reproduce the front running display that so nearly won the Arkle.

He is joined in the field by Felix Yonger and Twinlight. I much prefer Felix Yonger of the pair, a winner over Argocat at Navan last month. John Hanlon is trying blinkers on Hidden Cyclone for the first time after a disappointing run behind Uxizandre at the festival. He has some top class form in the past and will be an obvious threat if the blinds have the desired effect.

A Mullins treble on the opening day would not hit the bookmakers too hard at the prohibitive prices on offer but 3-1 looks fair for Champagne Fever.

Douvan 4.20 @1-4 William Hill

Champagne Fever 5.30 @3-1 Paddy Power

Don Poli 6.40 @4-9 Betfred

Grand National Blog – Déjà vu for Punters at Aintree

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

Aintree Day 1 Report

The last flight fall of Arctic Fire in the Aintree Hurdle was strangely reminiscent of last month’s demise of odds-on favourite Annie Power at Cheltenham. Once again it was the Willie Mullins and Ruby Walsh combination seemingly set to strike a blow for the punters before disaster struck at the last hurdle.

His departure left the race at the mercy of Jezki and Tony McCoy but the best news was that both horse and rider escaped unscathed. McCoy would later be in the wars himself when Ned Buntline came down in the sixth race. The champion jockey was immediately back up on his feet and able to fling his helmet to the ground in disgust.

It was a day of mixed fortunes for punters with Nina Carberry never giving her supporters an anxious moment when taking the Fox Hunter Chase with On The Fringe. Silviniaco Conti was preferred in the market to Holywell and duly reversed the Cheltenham Gold Cup under Noel Fehily. Punters could have ended the day in profit had Call The Cops held off the late thrust of Taglietelle in the closing handicap hurdle. Bookmakers had little to complain about in the other races with Clarcam (5-1), All Yours (16-1) and Surf And Turf (33-1).

Grand National Latest

There has been little activity worthy of note in the Grand National market with Shutthefrontdoor a general 7-1 favourite ahead of Rocky Creek and Balthazar King at 10-1 and The Druids Nephew at 14-1. Gordon Elliott will certainly be growing in confidence ahead of Cause Of Causes run in Saturday’s race after a first day double courtesy of Clarcam and Taglietelle.

A few late jockey bookings for the National include Brian Hughes on Ely Brown, Brendan Powell on Royale Knight, Tom Cannon on Wyck Hill and Liam Treadwell on Monbeg Dude. The four reserves have only until 9am tomorrow for any of the top forty to come out.

Special Offers

The best Grand National offers at present are each-way down to sixth place from BetVictor and half of your stake back as a free bet for Bet365 customers (applies to all each-way bets on the National up to a maximum of £125 per customer). If you are intending opening a Coral account, they will pay out on the Grand National winner at treble the odds for new customers. Full details on their respective websites.

Fairyhouse Monday Preview

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

We opened the Fairyhouse Sunday card with two winners but our treble was thwarted when Apache Stronghold unseated his rider in the Ryanair Gold Cup. Still, four winners out of six selections over the weekend is not a bad return.

We previewed the Irish Grand National last week and have two selections in Grand Jesture and Los Amigos. The former is entitled to run well after his fine run at the Cheltenham festival while Los Amigos has been trained for this race all season. It’s impossible to be confident in a race such as this but hopefully one of them can sneak into the money.

There is a good supporting card, kicking off at 2.45 with a four-year-old hurdle. Dicosimo is likely to start favourite here on the strength of his eighth place in the Triumph Hurdle. He led for a long way before being passed by the Henderson trio and Ruby Walsh was easy on him once his chance had gone. It is too early to say whether it was a vintage renewal of the Triumph so I’d prefer to take a chance on stable companion Whiteout at 10-1.

She has won her only start since joining Mullins from France where she was the winner of a modest claimer on the level. She had Sam Red back in third on her debut and that rival has won easily since. She has to be worth an each-way bet against the favourite.

Dedigout has won his last two races at Grade 2 level but missed Cheltenham as he did not get his favoured soft ground. He could probably do with a downpour before racing on Monday but he has won on yielding ground and should not be inconvenienced by the current conditions. Thousand Stars has not raced since the summer and could be vulnerable and I am more wary of Cheltenham runner-up Noble Endeavour. He moved well in the Martin Pipe Hurdle and was just beaten on the nod.

Tony McCoy treated his legion of followers to another fine display on Gilgamboa on Sunday and can chalk up another victory on Blair Perrone in the 4.25. He is trained by Mouse Morris and won last time without coming off the bridle. Connections considered a tilt at the Betfair Hurdle earlier in the season and he could be the value bet against some exposed Mullins-trained runners. There was little between Max Dynamite and Sempre Medici in the Vincent O’Brien County Hurdle and Ruby Walsh has switched from one to the other here.

Whiteout 2.45 @10-1 Paddy Power (each-way)

Dedigout 3.20 @9-4 Ladbrokes

Blair Perrone 4.25 @4-1 Bet365

Grand Jesture 5.00 @20-1 Betdaq (each-way)

Los Amigos 5.00 @ 14-1 Paddy Power (each-way)

Fairyhouse Sunday Preview

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

Speculative Bid (4-1) and Lady Dutch (7-2) gave us a tidy profit at Kempton on Saturday. Unfortunately Made Of Love denied us a treble when fading tamely in the closing stages. One lucky punter collected a three-quarters of a million pounds on the Scoop6 and can take it over the million if they win the bonus next weekend. Unfortunately, most of us were knocked out by a 33-1 shocker in the first race at Haydock.

Sunday’s main action comes from Fairyhouse ahead of Monday’s Irish Grand National. There are two Grade 1 races and a Grade 2 featuring several horses that ran well at last month’s Cheltenham festival.

Harry Fry’s Bitofapuzzle ran a fine race to finish a close third behind Glen’s Melody in the Mares’ Hurdle. That was the race which saved the bookmakers a small fortune when Annie Power crashed out at the final hurdle. Bitofapuzzle had no chance of catching that brilliant mare but it was still a fine run and she will have conditions more in her favour on Sunday.

She has shown her best form on soft or heavy ground and this two and a half-mile trip looks perfect. The Pirate Queen was not far behind her that day while Petite Parisienne was not disgraced when fifth in the Triumph Hurdle. This is a stiff task for a four-year-old and a bigger threat may come from Rock On The Moor who missed Cheltenham and will be fresher than most.

It is hard to argue with the form of Shaneshill in the Grade 2 Novice Hurdle at 3.50. He chased home stable companion Douvan in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and had already shown that he stays this trip. It will be interesting to see how the Supreme form matches up with the Neptune, represented here by the fifth and sixth.

Snow Falcon finished ahead of Outlander that day but the latter could turn the tables here. He was not fluent at his hurdles and had nothing left for the dash to the line.

The Ryanair Gold Cup at 4.20 puts the JLT Novices’ Chase form to the test with second and third in action, Apache Stronghold and Valseur Lido. They were separated by only a short-head that day, albeit 15 lengths adrift of the impressive Vatour. Bryan Cooper dropped his whip on Valseur Lido but it’s hard to say how much difference that may have made.

They both face a tricky opponent in Gitane Du Berlais, an impressive winner of the Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase at Sandown. Willie Mullins elected to send him to France next for a valuable prize over hurdles and he is almost certain to set the pace under Ruby Walsh. I just wonder if he can keep it up in these conditions and prefer the claims of Apache Stronghold.

Bitofapuzzle 3.20 @3-1 Bet365

Shaneshill 3.50 @8-11 Ladbrokes

Apache Stronghold 4.20 @9-2 Paddy Power

Cheltenham blog – The £100 million fall!

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

The bookmakers were saved an estimated £100 million pay-out on the opening day of the Cheltenham festival when Annie Power crashed out at the final hurdle in the Mares’ Hurdle.

Bookmakers had feared a multi-million pound pay-out with Irish trainer Willie Mullins and jockey Ruby Walsh having four red-hot favourites on the card. Douvan started the ball rolling in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and was quickly followed by Un De Sceaux in the Arkle Chase.

The bandwagon rolled on in the Champion Hurdle when Faugheen led home stable companions Arctic Fire and Hurricane Fly in a Mullins 1-2-3. Everything appeared to be going to plan for Annie Power as Ruby Walsh moved her through to lead on the home turn. They quickened up going to the last but took off a stride to early and crashed out of the race.

The race was battled out by Nicky Henderson’s Polly Peachum and the Mullins-trained Glens Melody, runner-up to Quevega a year earlier. The photo finish went in favour of Glens Melody to provide him with a fourth winner on the day. Fortunately Annie Power and Ruby Walsh returned unscathed and it is only the punters left nursing their wounds.

Most of the special offers from bookmakers had focussed on the Mullins runners so they still face a hefty pay-out, but not nearly as bad as it might have been. There were enhanced prices offered on the first three Mullins winners for new customers and money back offers on the Supreme and the Arkle. With four winners already on the board, Mullins is now closing in on Nicky Henderson’s record of seven festival winners in one season.

Special Offer

Open a Racebets account and you can get 10-1 about either Sire de Grugy or Sprinter Sacre for tomorrow’s Champion Chase (maximum £5 stake per customer – new customers only).

Latest Festival Updates

Coneygree will definitely run in the Gold Cup after being taken out of the RSA Chase on Wednesday. Boston Bob is also thought likely to run in Friday’s feature race in preference to the Ryanair Chase.

Willie Mullins has taken Briar Hill out of the World Hurdle but will still be represented by Zaidpour and Abbyssial. All of the other major contenders stood their ground.

Market Movers

Wednesday – Don Poli (RSA Chase) 2-1 BetBright

Thursday – Don Cossack (Ryanair Chase) 7-2 Sky Bet

Friday – Coneygree (Gold Cup) 12-1 Sky Bet