In the space of 90 minutes last Wednesday at Dundalk, local
trainers won the last four races and a combined total of €22,080 prize money
between them. Not bad! Ask Dad for Damian English of the Naul, Rose Angel for
Peter Casey, Nedera - Tom McCourt and Minot Street representing John McConnell
all triumphed for Stamullen. We are spoilt with another Wednesday fixture this
week on top of the regular Friday meeting. It was a nice touch by Dundalk
Stadium to give all those who attended on Friday night free entry for the
additional midweek meeting.
Wednesday’s card will be quite low key compared to Friday;
less quality and runners if the truth be told. There are a couple of
interesting maidens though that often throws up a good horse or two. Maira should take a lot of beating in
the fillies division. She was very green on debut for Shane Foley and Mick
Halford. Pat Smullen was on board for her second start and I thought the
champion jockey gave her a rare bad ride. Making ground wide on the outside at
the crown of the home bend as the pace heated up, she led but Maira tired in
the final furlong to be second. She should have the key experience and fitness edge
over rivals to prevail. Whaileyy has
been kindly treated by the handicapper, down 4lb for an eye-catching run behind
Captain Joy and then won a claimer despite being wrong at the weights. Another
probable winner for Halford though will most likely be short in the betting. Elusive
Laurence has decent prospects in the 10f race on its second start in a
handicap, seeming to handle the step up in trip well the last day and now
carries 3lb less.
I like the look of Friday’s card and Manorov could be the best bet on the night. Tom McCourt’s horse has
caught the eye last twice now, staying on well despite wide trips and quite
immature. The lightly raced gelding has been dropped 5lb in two starts, compare
that to Minot Street who quite rightly has been put up 15lb for a couple of
wins and you can see the appeal. Hardstone
should be hard to beat in the 12f handicap. Second on his last two starts, the
Johnny Murtagh trained 3yo colt has impressed, going too fast early last time
and just nutted in the line by course specialist Gretzky. Creggs Pipes ran a cracker first time out last week behind Sharaasa;
giving rivals a fierce
start turning in off a slow gallop, was wide, green and finished off nicely in
a quick last 3f. Up in trip she could run well at a big price if learning from
her debut. The Slattery trained filly will have to beat the very solid
Masterchippy and a host of well-bred debutantes but may just be the value. Strait of Zanzibar posted a really
quick time here over a mile on its penultimate start and maybe a big price in
the feature after below par run last time.
Habitual
run styles are now becoming apparent as we get familiar with the all-weather
performers. Recent winners Havelock Ellis and Camakasi have both traded much
higher betting in running for different reasons. Havelock Ellis hits serious
flat spots in his races (has to be seriously driven along) and as a result has
reached highs of 54/1 (SP 12/1) and 7/1 (SP 9/4) in his last two wins betting in
running on the exchanges. Camakasi has made a habit of being slow away from the
stalls lately and though he started 3/1 last Friday, he soon hit 40/1 after a
slow start, going on remarkably to win. On the opposite end of the spectrum are
those that flatter to deceive. Ability n Delivery in all 12 starts in 2014 has
traded shorter than its SP during the race but has yet to win this year. The
grey traded at 1/3 last week before finding little off the bridle and getting
beat. The smooth travelling Elusive in Paris hasn’t won since May 2012 now; matched
at 1/50 and 1/5 in Dundalk on last two starts, failing to win either. Sometimes
it pays to be aware of horses traits during a race as betting opportunities can
arise as a result.
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