Sunday, 4th April 2021
Ireland isn’t a regular stopping off point for this column, but I make an exception on Easter Monday for the Irish Grand National (5.00) at Fairyhouse – one of the highlights of the Irish jumping season….
Grand Nationals are very much to the fore over the next fortnight.
Saturday’s Aintree Grand National follows hard on the heels of tomorrow’s Irish version. And then the Saturday afterwards it is the turn of Ayr and the Scottish Grand National….
It would be nice to find the winner one – at a price. And tomorrow my money will ride on Barry Connell’s ESPANITO BELLO….
He’s a reasonable each-way price at 16s with various firms offering enhanced place terms: race sponsors Boylesports and Sky Bet are paying 1/5 the first 7; Paddy Power, Betfair Sportsbook, 888sport, William Hill and Betfred are all paying 1/5 the first 6; and you can get 1/5 the first 5 with multiple other firms….
I though the 7yo ran a good trial for this race at Navan off the back of a break last time around….
A mistake at the last which saw him peck badly on landing – something he will learn from – saw to it that he got beaten by Coko Beach. That’s a horse he’d previously beaten convincingly in a beginner’s chase and in my view Espanito Bello was getting the better of the tussle up the straight at Navan before the error at the last….
Coko Beach had won the Thyestes at Gowran Park in the meantime – barely breaking sweat. He found Espanito Bello a much tougher nut to crack – and that is much to my selection’s credit….
Coko Beach has been on the go pretty much since October whilst Barry Connell’s horse arrives at Fairyhouse much the fresher horse and I expect him to improve for the Navan race….
He’s got the right kind of profile for an Irish Grand National in that he’s a lightly-raced 7yo novice. He’s got experience at some decent learning tracks – Punchestown, Naas and Navan. And he’s still very much unexposed with just 4 runs over fences to his name. There should be more to come from him yet….
Prior to his Navan run last time he’d run no further than 2m3f. And there’s an obvious question mark about his capacity to stay tomorrow’s 3m5f trip. But I like the way he kept on after his mistake at the final fence at Navan. He definitely got the 3-miles and I got the impression there was more left in the tank yet….
He can run a big race at a more than reasonable price.
Nick’s contrarian picks….To recap on where my idea of the value lies tomorrow afternoon…. In the Irish Grand National (5.00 @ Fairyhouse).
If you’re playing each-way: Boylesports and Sky Bet are 1/5 the first 7; Paddy Power, Betfair Sportsbook, 888sport, William Hill and Betfred are 1/5 the first 6; you can get 1/5 the first 5 with multiple other firms…. That is my take on where the value lies – but you will no doubt have your own ideas and that’s exactly as it should be. |
That’s all from me for today. I’ll be back on Tuesday. Meanwhile….
Anything to report? Anything to say? Anything to share? Contact me at: nick.pullen@oxonpress.co.uk
Until next time. Stay tuned.
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