CENTREVILLE

Sligo  9 oo.

Hi all, back for a fleeting visit and a very strong word for CENTERVILLE in the last race at Sligo. Tony Mullin’s horses are in form and this fellow worked well in preparation for tonight’s finale and carries a lot of stable confidence. The shrewd handler will be downbeat if his charge is beaten. 3 pts win at 7/4 PP.

PLUMPTON 4 00.

BILLY NO NAME has not run over this minimum distance since 2012 but judged on his recent cosy success here over 21 furlongs last time the drop back in trip can be taken in his stride. The overnight deluge can help bring his undoubted stamina into play. The fact that he goes very well when fresh and with the stable still enjoying a purple patch, Billy is made a confident choice. 1 pt win at 9/2 with Paddy Power.

CALAMITY SHANE !! OUR DREAM IS TO FLY TODAY.

Plus another four points yesterday thanks to Barsanti being returned at 7/2. He absolutely bolted up. Our day should have been oh so much better though if the normally reliable Shane Kelly didn’t put his clock back rather than forward a few hours too early. I am trying to be kind here as his ride on Duchess Of Marmite was calamitous in the extreme. Pity Clyne was a non runner.

Easter Sunday :

Fairyhouse 3 05 : JESSBERS DREAM seems to have very strong claims here in this below standard Grade One event. The UK representative was impressive in a Grade Two  at Sandown last time and this better ground here should further enhance her claims. 2 pts win at a standout 3/1 with Paddy Power.

Fairyhouse 2 35 : The fortunes of Jim Culloty might get a much needed boost in the shape of the hitherto perennial placer, MIGHTY CONCORDE. This horse really needs further but there is loads of pace on here and that should bring his stamina into play. He seems best fresh so the fifty day lay off is ideal and the better ground is another plus. The form of his running on second to Blazer last time out has been well advertised, not only by the winner at Cheltenham but also by two subsequent winners further down the field on that occasion. 1 pt win at 9/2 Paddy Power.

Fairyhouse 3 40 : I always say that you should forgive a horse at least one bad run and surely that is the case with OUR DUKE who bombed out last time at Thurles when a warm favourite. The gelding was two from three before that and runner up on his other attempt so obviously something was amiss at the Tipperary venue. Connections think the world of their son of Oscar and I happen to agree with them. 1 pt win at 10/1 with Paddy Power.

There could be an update later.

 

HAPPY EASTER, HOPEFULLY !!

Moonrise Landing was value for much more than what she won by today and looks a very useful stayer right now. The 2/1 was nice early doors.

Easter Saturday :

The site will be having plenty of bets but at the moment will put out four but there might be some late news tomorrow.

Kempton 2 50 : BARASANTI quickened up well when sent about his business at Chemsford City late last month on first start for Roger Varian after leaving Luca Cumani’s yard. The extra furlong can help offset the ten pound penalty and I rate him a fair bet. 2 pts win at 3/1 with Bet Victor, Bet Fred, Betfair and others.

Kempton 4 35 : DUCHESS OF MARMITE is two from two over course and distance. Her late running style suits this track admirably so is worthy of support. 1 pt win at 4/1 with Paddy Power and a few others.

Kempton 5 10 : PRENDERGAST HILL is a very lightly raced gelded son of Ravens Pass and although given a relatively stiff mark of 85 for his handicap introduction could be well up to defying the imposition off a break. He looks a progressive type. 2 pts win at 3/1 with several of the layers.

Haydock 3 45 : Typical of the ridiculous handicapping that goes on nowadays, CLYNE was penalized a whopping 13 pounds for what was an admittedly comfortable victory at Warwick 42 days ago but the contest lacked any strength in depth. However, he goes very well fresh and is open to any amount of improvement so despite a small reservation about the tight track and ever quickening ground, he is worth a bet. 1 pt win at a freely available 6/1.

HERETIC DAY. MOONRISE LANDING.

We should most certainly not be betting today but for those of you who are going to be forced to have one, well then, look no further than MOONRISE LANDING in the stayers event at the big day in Lingfield at 2 40. The Dalakhani mare goes very well fresh and simply loves this surface, her numbers are going up and up [37 adjusted last day] so she is made a confident selection to swoop late on. She is currently 2/1 with Betfair, Bet Victor and Bet Fred. 3 pts win and nap. I made my bet yesterday so as I firmly believe in God I technically am not breaking the Spiritual law.

DAY ONE CHELTENHAM REVIEW

I have no doubt that the ground was dangerous at the meeting. It was fast and uneven in my estimation and it certainly was a huge contributing factor to the seven fatalities  and God only knows how many more horses went home sore. I suspect we will hear more in the coming days and weeks about other injuries and hopefully there won’t be too many more problems in future bought on by the atrocious surface. I think the ground and state of the track was a disgrace.

Supreme Novices Hurdle :

ALTIOR was impressive and clocked a very good speed figure of 42. I rated him the danger to Min [39] in my ante post column but he beat the Mullins horse well. For the future I think both of them will be best when sent over much further and indeed I would see them as future three milers. CHABREL [36] appeals as the horse to take out of the race for the immediate future and especially on a flat track. Keep him in mind for Punchestown. BELLSHILL has now disappointed on both visits to  Cheltenham but he could easily bounce back on good ground at any of the upcoming festivals like he did last term and he will be value from a punting point of view.

Arkle Chase :

DOUVAN [44 adjusted] is the real deal and simply blew his rivals away. He set the fractions too slow and Ruby will have learned from this for the future. He can go on to become a champion.

Ultima Handicap Chase :

UN TEMPS POUR TOUT [40]  has now won the twice he has raced over twenty five furlong plus and he looks an ideal candidate for the Grand National next year and any upcoming races over marathon distances.

Champion Hurdle :

ANNIE POWER [47] put up a spectacular performance to romp away with the great race. It is my belief that she would have beaten Faugheen if he had been in the field. I reckon that one of Willie Mullin’s biggest regrets is that he did not run her in the race in 2014 and it is quiet possible that she could have been going for three in a row this time round instead of gaining her first crown. ANNIE is a remarkable mare and the pity is that we will probably never see a showdown between her and Faugheen although it will be interesting what they will do next year if the former champion is fit. Maybe this time they should re route Faugheen to the Stayers World hurdle. MY TENT OR YOURS [44] can count himself unlucky to come up against a machine but he is not one to be trusted to follow this up with the same performance next time up. NICHOLS CANYON [44] stayed on strongly and could have done with slower ground. He looks a bit of a good thing for the Aintree hurdle should he go there. A line can be put through the effort of SEMPRE MEDICI who sprawled at the first and certainly did muscle damage so watch out for him wherever he goes.

OLBG Mares Hurdle :

VROUM VROUM MAG [42 adjusted] looks an absolute beast of a mare and confirmed her status as the second best female currently in training. She had never run on anything other than soft or heavy in her life and to put up such  a high class effort on fast going was remarkable when you also consider that it was only her third lifetime hurdles start on these shores [she did have one in France when second on her racecourse debut at Auteuil in 2014]. VROUM VROUM can go on to do just about anything, she could drop back to the Champion hurdle distance or go out to the Gold Cup trip. The other mare to take out of the event is LEGACY GOLD [39]. She is a bit of a win machine herself and will be very interesting when stepped up even further in trip and on good ground. There was absolutely no fluke about her showing here.

National Hunt Chase :

MINELLA ROCCO [38]  has abundant stamina and also showed courage here having been a long way back and then having to tough it out against the rallying NATIVE RIVER [37]. Both of these will have major claims when graduating into the many ‘nationals’ that are out there nowadays. The demise of PONT ALEXANDRE was heartbreaking, especially when you consider that he was simply cantering at the time and would surely have taken all the beating.

Close Brothers Novice Handicap Chase :

BALLYALTON [39] disproved the idea that they never come back with a gutsy display to repel the difficult to predict BOUVREUIL [38]. The former could be very interesting in the Paddy Power next year while the latter will probably always remain a bit enigmatic but sure to pop up somewhere. BRIDGETS PET [35] seems to love undulating tracks and could easily be dangerous at the Galway meeting in high Summer if turning up there.

 

 

PROFIT AT CHELTENHAM. IBIS DU RHEU. THANKS.

The site ended up showing a healthy profit of plus seven points on the meeting after having a torrid time for the first few days and it could have been oh so much better but we will take that for sure.

I will review the entire meeting over the next few days and we will find plenty of future winners from that.

On a personal note I am very very proud to have sourced IBIS DU RHEU in conjunction with Tom Malone and it was such a thrill to see him bound up the hill from a very uncompromising position with three to jump. He got badly interfered with by the faller early on and lost his position. In fact he made up twenty lengths to score. He can go on from here and make a high class chaser. IBIS DU RHEU now joins IRVING as our most successful purchases but there have been many many more.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Tom, Philipp Graf Von Stauffenberg, my brother Kenneth Cullinane , who does all the video analysis etc and my nephew, David Prendergast, who is our computer programmer and speed figure guru. Most of all, I owe a deep debt of gratitude to the the genius who is Nick Mordin. I am just the lucky one to have these people to work with.

DAY FOUR CHELTENHAM

1 30 : FOOTPAD 8/1,  2 pts win.

2 10 : SUPERB STORY 7/1 , 1 pt win.

2 50 : BARTERS HILL  4/1, 1 pt win and UP FOR REVIEW in betting w/o fav market , 1 pt win 10/1.

3 30 : ON HIS OWN : 66/1, half pt win and DJAKADAM , 2 pts win at 3/1.

4 10 : ON THE FRINGE  2 pts win 11/4.

4 50 : IBIS DU RHEU  18/1, 1 pt win.

5 30 : ROCK THE WORLD 11/1, 1 pt win.

DAY THREE CHELTENHAM, PAIN.

All pain for us so far with a virtual wipe out, I needed Campeador big time yesterday but of course he fell at the last when in with every chance. The rest were just poor.

1 30 : 1 pt win OUTLANDER 5/1.

2 10 : 1 pt win LEAVE AT DAWN 13/2.

2 50 : VALSEUR LIDO , without the favourite , 1 pt 11/2.

3 30 : 1 pt win ALPHA DES OBEAUX 8/1.

4 10 : 1 pt win JOHN’S SPIRIT 6/1.

4 50 : 1  pt each way TEA IN TRANSVAAL 22/1.

5 30 : 1 pt win DOCTOR HARPER 11/2.

 

 

 

 

CHELTENHAM DAY TWO. GENIUS MULLINS.

Let’s hope we can improve from yesterday.

Neptune Novice Hurdle 1 30 : I am already on a loser ante post on my main bet but I also suggested a one point win on A TOI PHIL at 12/1 and I am sticking with that.He is a very decent sort. He is only 15/2 now. He is trained by the great Willie Mullins. The maestro has also re routed YORKHILL to this race and he is a massive danger. I think either of those two can overturn the supposedly unbeatable favourite Yanworth. So the bet is A TOI PHIL with YORKHILL the big danger.

RSA Chase 2 10 : This column has been very sweet on ROI DES FRANCS before and he is great value at 12/1 for this event. He will find it very tough against the two hotpots but if he can get in to a good rhythm he is well capable of serving it up to them. One point win at 12/1 PP.

Coral Cup 2 50 : I just have to go for another Willie Mullins animal here. ARBE DE VIE looks to have a fair shot in this and is basically unexposed. He ran only once this season and that was in a chase but it is significant that connections have decided to come back to the smaller obstacles. One point win at 12/1 PP.

Champion Chase 3 30 : Willie Mullins is a genius and I have no doubt but that he has a champion in the shape of the odds on favourite UN DE SCEAUX. I would say the only danger to him is a fall or some other misfortune. The price that he is though means we have to look for value elsewhere and where better than Mullin’s other representative FELIX YONGER. He is very talented too and can chase the good thing home. 1 point on FELIX in the betting without the favourite market at 5/1 with PP.

Cross Country Chase 4 10 : Enda Bolger can take this race but with which one. He has the warm favourite in Josies Orders but I am going to back his other two representatives. One point win on QUANTITATIVEEASING at 15/2 and one point win on CANTLOW at 16/1 with PP.

Juvenile Handicap Hurdle 4 50 : CAMPEADOR was not too far behind some really smart sorts over the Christmas period and he has apparently been working very well coming into this. One point win at 9/1.

Champion Bumper : This is getting really boring but I have to go for Willie Mullins again in a race that he loves to win. He has any amount of chances as he is mob handed but the one I like best is AVENIR DUNE VIE. He will take all the beating. One point win at 8/1 PP.

Best of luck…