Andy Holding shares two ante-post tips for next week’s Punchestown Festival.
KPMG Champion Novice Hurdle
Looking ahead towards next week's Punchestown Festival, the key is trying to work out who goes where and with Willie Mullins, as per usual, holding most of the aces in majority of the graded races, finding the value on runners with a genuine chance is at a premium.
To prove the point, the Closutton handler has five of the first seven in the betting in the opener on Day 1, which is a theme common to most ante post races on offer.
For the first of my ante-post tips, there is more than a fair chance SLADE STEEL can upset the party and confirm form with his old rivals in the KPMG Champion Novice Hurdle.
Presuming current ante post favourite, Ballyburn, stays in his own lane and goes for the 2m4f event later in the week, Henry de Bromhead's gelding is a strong fancy to back up his victory in the Supreme Novices' at the Cheltenham Festival and there's a decent chance he will be trading more around the 6/4 mark than his current quotes of 3/1.
Despite making several untimely errors a month ago, including at the last, the son of Telescope still had too much class and determination for Mystical Power on the run to the line and with the runner-up (and third Firefox) confirming the strength of the form at Aintree subsequently, only failure to prove equally effective going right handed could stand in his way.
Advised Bet: SLADE STEEL - 1-point win @ 3/1
Ballymore Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle
One of the other races where Mullins might not get things all his own way is the Ballymore Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle on the final day of the meeting and despite Bottlersecret looking the most obvious candidate, the better option could turn out to be NURBURGRING.
Strongly fancied in many quarters for the Triumph Hurdle, Joseph O'Brien's gelding could never land a blow after being held up way too far out of his ground but he did keep on well to suggest a more aggressive ride next time might see him in a more favourable light.
Withdrawn on the day of his latest intended start at Aintree two weeks ago, he arrives here a fresher horse than most (Kargese and Sir Gino had hard races) and with his best speed figure coming when he raced right handed at Fairyhouse earlier in the season, something close to the same level of form should see him go close to ending his campaign on a high.
