Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse

There are 7 meetings in the U.K. today - 3 on the flat and 4 over jumps- but once again the best racing comes from Ireland, where the Fairyhouse Easter meeting goes into its second day, with the Irish Grand National over 3 miles 5 furlongs at 17.50 CET as the main feature. With 141,000 euros to the winner, it is also by far the most valuable race of the day. This is an extremely tricky race and there are arguments for and against almost every one of the 29 runners; English raider Junior (David Pipe/ Conor O´Farrell) is the class act here, but we shall be amazed if he is able to concede so much weight all round. Many of the runners are unproven at the distance, but the are several fast improving types such as Rich Revival (Liz Doyle/ Barry O´Connell), who after missing all of the previous season, is unbeaten in 3 starts (all his chases so far) this year. The usual Irish suspects are of course to be found -Willie Mullins has strangely enough as poor record here and has 2 runner s, with Ruby Walsh on consistent Marasonnien, who clearly goes on to the short list. JP McManus has 2 runners, with Tony McCoy on the improving Competitive Edge (Conor O´Dwyer), while Gigginstown Stud have 5 runners. with their main jockey Davy Russell on Paul Nolan´s Sweeney Tunes.

The ground is still soft, but has been drying out and is nowhere as bad as has the been the case in recent weeks, so that should be no excuse. We think that the winner of such a race needs to have plenty of experience of racing in large fields and proven stamina. Lightly-raced runners, however well handicapped, face a tough task. We will therefore rule out the 6- and 7yo´s - which include most of the above - and concentrate on last year´s race, in which Paddy Pub (Keith Purcell/ Paddy Mangan) in fourth place did best of those turning out again. Magnanimity (Dessie Hughes/ Bryan Cooper) - another Gigginstown entry- and Cross Appeal (Noel Meade/ Paul Carberry) were both pulled up but try again with decent prospects. All three of these seem well handicapped - none has won since- and in what is a real lottery, we make Paddy Pub our very speculative selection.

The rest of the Fairyhouse card is also very competitive with two graded races over hurdles, both of which could go to the Mullins/ Walsh team, via Zaidpour at 15.40 and Tennis Cap an hour later. The former ran very badly at Cheltenham, but this race seems ideal for him and he is 2 for 2 at this track, while Tennis Cap put up a better effort at the Festival, finishing runner-up to Ted Veale in the County Hurdle. On a line through that winner, he has little in hand of Sizing Rio (Henry de Bromhead/ Andrew Lynch), who has not run since disappointing in better company at Christmas, and the latter is possibly a better value bet at the likely prices.

Betting forecast:
1. Race: Zaidpour - Noble Prince - Dressedtothenines
2. Race: Sarabad - Vics Canvas - Miss Xian
3. Race: Tennis Cap - Mallowney - Pique Sous
4. Race: Vedettariat - Need To Talk - Akorakor
5. Race: Rich Revival - Marasonnien - Sweeney Tunes
6. Race: He`S Our Man - Bullock Harbour - Dark Prospect
7. Race: Down Under - Shattered Dream - Prince Rudi
8. Race: Azorian - Eight Chimes - Apache Stronghold