At a time in which sport is most valuable and top quality sport is even harder to come by, Ireland has managed to put things into place to be able to have the racing behind closed doors and we’re treated to the BetVictor Hurdle.
Mary Frances has opened as favourite after a win over 3M at Punchestown where the mare was under pressure turning into the bend but disposed of an on-the-bridle Blast of Koeman by 4 ½ lengths where this impressive mare found plenty for pressure. In December, Mary Frances ran at Clonmel and finished only 1 ½ lengths behind the Storyteller who since has finished a very close runner up in the Pertemps at Cheltenham. This mare had two runs between her runner-up and her win that were losses by a big margin to high quality, Benie Des Dieux and Stormy Ireland. Big chance.
Jetz is another horse that is highly tried against the best opposition and seeing this gelding drop into a lower grade really catches the eye. Coming off of the back of a 2nd to a very smart looking opposition in Charli Parcs who returned from a 469 day break, Jetz has a similar profile to Mary Frances in that he runs consistently against the top horses but if you look back to this month last year, he romped home in a race of this grade. Robbie Power takes the ride as he always does (20/27 of Jetz races) and if he’s able to return to that form, he’s a leading contender.
Brace Yourself is an unexposed gelding that’s only had 2 runs over hurdles in his career and was not at all disgraced in a grade 2 at Navan recently. The Meade trained horse is still very unexposed after only 2 starts over hurdles and looked to have a promising future when winning a maiden hurdle in November 2018 at Down Royal. There’s a real question mark over this horse but could he bring form from his maiden victory; then there’d be a squeak.
Moyhenna is yet another horse with plenty of classy previous form. The Denis Hogan trained runner won in very nice fashion at the Punchestown festival last May whilst chasing and prior to that she won by 25L at Limerick. Thus far, she’s been unsuccessful over hurdles with a trouncing at Navan and has since had a fall and most recently pulled up at Gowran Park. This is a significant drop if you look at the standard of the handicaps she’s been running in, but the addition of cheekpieces could aid her chance.
The favourite Mary Frances has a weight allowance due to her being a mare and looks to have a huge chance, but JETZ rates a decent value pick at 11/4. The Harrington trained horse, having his regular jockey on board, at a lower grade than usual after his recent runner-up, looks a nice pick. SKYBET are also offering money back if your horse finishes 2nd or 3rd (up to £10). A top 3 finish would be a minimum expectation for this gelding.
https://m.skybet.com/horse-racing/thurles/event/25532977
BETTING FORECAST 11/4 Mary Frances, 7/2 Jetz, 4/1 Karl Der Grosse, 11/2 Moyhenna, 13/2 Brace Yourself, 10/1 Cartwright, 16/1 Ferocious, 25/1 Foreign Secretary, Jaime Sommers
samyets 