Punchestown Festival Tips: Andy Holding's Ante-Post Double

As ever, Willie Mullins holds the key to most of the novice hurdles at the Punchestown Festival, but without knowing for certain where each horse runs, it's also tricky to have a dogmatic view from an ante-post perspective.  

That said, with the likelihood that Sir Gerhard will be asked to back up his Ballymore crown over 2m4f, STATE MAN (best price 10-1) is fancied to take advantage by sticking to the two-mile route when he tackles the Grade 1 Champion Novice Hurdle on day one. Well-backed to land the ultra-competitive County Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival despite only having three previous starts, the son of Doctor Dino justified the money in his direction by beating a 26-strong field with plenty to spare. In doing so, he posted the fastest handicap time figure of the entire four days and with the strong possibility of even more to come with that all-important experience under his belt, the five-year-old chestnut can gain the bragging rights over stablemate Dysart Dynamo, who will need to settle much better than he did in the Supreme. 

Mullins pair The Nice Guy and Minella Cocooner set the standard for the three-mile Grade 1 Irish Mirror Novice Hurdle on their Albert Bartlett clash, but at the same time, they both had a very hard race at Cheltenham, so the percentage call may be to look elsewhere, and the one who stands out at the current prices is BRONN (best price 14-1).

Although his official rating of 137 suggests the son of Notnowcato has plenty to find, he does arrive at the Co Kildare venue following a Grade 2 success at Fairyhouse and it's easy to make the case out for him being a good bit better than the bare result indicates. Badly hampered when the front-running Arctic Warrior fell three out, the five-year-old lost the thick end of five lengths and a good deal of momentum, but that fact he managed to pull a victory out of the fire is testimony to his natural ability. Likely to be suited by a step up in trip based on what we saw of him last time out, Bronn qualifies as a decent each-way bet at current odds of 14-1.