SHAMROCK TEMPTED BY 14.5 BETDAQ OFFER: Shamrock finds value in 14.5 and 10.5 offers on Betdaq this morning about handicap runners at Clonmel but rates a Newton Abbot Irish raider as the nap of the day.
Follow the man in form. It pays more often than not and, when that man in form is the leading trainer at the day’s meeting, you expect to have a winner.
Edward O’Grady is at the veteran stage now but our long-time Cheltenham Festival leader can still saddle a winner or two and is currently showing a 63% win-and-place strike rate.
Edward is Clonmel’s leading trainer over jumps and the promise of Rhum And Coke (7.20) could well be improved dramatically by the application of blinkers and the riding of one of the track’s top jockeys, Andrew McNamara. He’s 10.5 on Betdaq this morning.
The first four Clonmel races are on the Flat, and I expect Johnny Murtagh to grab two of them: Certerach (4.45) wasn’t given a hard time on the debut when he came up against a smart sort.
Kastania (5.45) didn’t have all the luck at Killarney and contended with soft ground at Leopardstown. Today’s her big chance while the going is on top. Scots Gaelic, who beat her at Killarney, has to be the saver.
First time in a handicap, Peggy’s Step (6.15) has been working with a recent winner at the Tracey Collins’ yard and 14.5 on Betdaq was tempting this morning.
Gordon Elliott and Paul Carberry raid Newton Abbot with my bet of the day to start his chasing career with a win, Russian War (2.50), who has been a quality hurdler.
He’s already won a Point and I understand that Carberry (five out of seven on him) feels that the son of Moscow Society could be a really good novice chaser, albeit late on the scene at the age of eight.
SHAMROCK’S BETS
NAP: Russian War (2.50 Newton Abbot)
NEXT BEST: Kastania (5.45 Clonmel)
SAVER: Scots Gaelic (5.45 Clonmel)
OUTSIDER: Peggy’s Step (6.15 Clonmel), Rhum And Coke (7.20 Clonmel)
DAQ TRIO: Russian War (2.50 Newton Abbot), Certerach (4.45 Clonmel) and Kastania (5.45 Clonmel)
