Equinties - DRF

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Gm Equinauts

It’s the intern here (kind of). I’m in charge of the newsletter whilst the boss is away but due to British Airways being f*cking useless, he’s editing / got eyes on today.

Not much happened yesterday, so we are going to bring you a nice preview of day one at the Dublin Racing Festival.

Short. Snappy. Opinions.

Let’s dive tf in.

Headline roundup

Grade 1 Nathaniel Lacy Novice Hurdle

“This is his Cheltenham” cries Nigel Twiston-Davies as WEVEALLBEENCAUGHT is hoping to cause an upset and make it 1-0 to the British after race one.

He beat ROCK MY WAY lto, a Grade 2 winner on Trials Day at Cheltenham, and it looks like the HERMES ALLEN form is very nice. A strongly run 2m6f will suit this big monster of a horse and we wouldn’t rule out this British raider.

It’s just a case of whether the Irish have any better pieces of form which of course is very hard to tell at this stage of their careers.

One who could is AMERICAN MIKE, the forgotten horse after his Grade 2 loss at 2/7 in November – the FACILE VEGA form has to be respected, although it was in bumpers, and he beat a future winner in LETSBECLEARABOUTIT at Down Royal two starts ago, so he is the one to rival the British raider on form.

However, they both have to get past Good Land for the Good People.

We at BGP are suckers for anything that is by Blue Bresil. GOOD LAND is from the Gavin Cromwell stable who have got a couple of decent horses kicking about. His maiden hurdle win was seriously impressive, upped in trip he showed stamina and particularly pace in abundance and connections have taken him out of the Albert Bartlett which says he’s more of a speed horse than a stayer. QUAIS DE PARIS is from the Mullins stable who have dominated this race. Mullins mentioned he’ll appreciate a step up in trip and his pedigree suggest he’ll like the better ground.

Grade 1 Spring Juvenile Hurdle

LOSSIEMOUTH. That’s it, that’s the sentence.

It will take a lot to beat this filly with her weight allowance – she had GALA MARCEAU, her market rival tomorrow, covered lto at Leopardstown, GUST OF WIND is a complete unknown on just his second-ever start, and TEKAO looks more like a Boodles type.

She has been seriously impressive this season and there can be no knocking her at the top of this market and the Triumph Hurdle.

Willie Mullins, who fields six of the eight runners, will know his pecking order of juveniles, and that is represented by the jockeys – Paul Townend is on her, enough said.

Grade 1 Irish Arkle Novice Chase

Could this be the race of the weekend?

APPREICATE IT. DYSART DYNAMO. EL FABIOLO. BANBRIDGE. FIL DOR. SAINT ROI.

What a set of horses! It’s a proper race. So good to see these horses taking on each other, unlike the British.

Again, it is Mullins dominated with the trainer responsible for 5 out of the 8 runners. APPRECIATE IT heads the line up and is Paul Townsend’s pick. I doubt there’s much between a lot of these and of course Paul can only ride one. APPRECIATE IT is a supreme hurdle winner and this previous point to point winner has taken to the bigger obstacles like a duck to water. It should be mentioned he was also entered for the 2m5f novice chase on Sunday against MIGHTY POTTER, however, connections have decided to send him here presumably on the assumption they think he doesn’t lack speed.

If you are a DYSART DYNAMO fan, you have a strong case.

He was arguably the best over fences on debut out of both APPRECIATE IT and EL FABIOLO as he jumped well and showed great gears, plus, he is probably the most natural two-miler of the lot.

However, if you go through his form, although he was impressive on all occasions, he hasn’t beaten anything of real substance. He’s a strong traveller and if he can replicate his jumping from his chasing debut he could well be hard to rein in.

EL FABIOLO needs to step up on his form but the longer trip could help his chances, BANBRIDGE will benefit from the better ground and I think the step back in trip from lto will also benefit him as he doesn’t lack speed. There’s a feeling in the BGP camp that FIL DOR wants further than this. But these 3 are no slouches and it looks to be a fantastic mash up. It’s all to play for.

Grade 1 Irish Gold Cup

Despite the lack of strength in depth, this should be a corker between two stablemates.

An unproven stayer vs an out-and-out galloper should be a great clash at Leopardstown.

Yes, that’s right, it’s GALOPIN DES CHAMPS vs STATTLER.

GALOPIN DES CHAMPS looks to be a monster. He has a lovely turn of foot, endless quality, and the world at his feet. If you were cynical, you could crab his jumping consistency, however, that is probably the only issue.

However, you’d be hard-pressed to knock STATTLER that much either.

He nearly gave eight pounds away to beat MINELLA INDO, a former Gold Cup winner, lto at Tramore, won the National Hunt Chase in a canter, and looks like a genuine horse.

Will three miles at Leopardstown suit him better than GALOPIN DES CHAMPS? Who knows, maybe he might get caught for speed.

None of the others should get into the race – apologies – so sit back and be ready to watch this corker.

Grade 2 Future Stars Flat Race

This crop of bumper horses doesn’t look to have the same level of star quality as last year did. It’s a simple truth, so we’ll keep this preview short.

FASCILE MODE, for Mullins (Thomas, not Willie), was impressive once he got the hang of things lto, however, he doesn’t look to be the most solid favourite of the weekend.

BETTER DAYS AHEAD, bar his hiccup on rules debut, was very impressive lto to beat CAPEAU DE SOLEIL and comes with a £350,000 price tag – he has to be respected.

The master of Closutton is represented in this race through FACT TO FILE for JP McManus – he has won at the course over 2m4f and he had to work hard to win that day, showing his true staying potential. He may be caught for speed over two miles, but he found plenty the last day.

One that could be overpriced for John Kiely is A DREAM TO SHARE, a horse who hasn’t been seen in 235 days – he was extremely impressive lto, although the 2/9 favourite, as he found a lot down the outside at Roscommon and displayed his magnitude of gears. At 12/1, he is interesting.

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Bumper preview

Chepstow

Twiston-Davies should win by Evan Williams’ is a good horse and could cause an upset if trying fto.

Today's best stats

No time for stats today.

Risk on

Bet 3:

DUC DU RENE to beat HURRICANE DANNY