13:45 Tramore Directors Maiden Hurdle
Placed2m0f140y · Good · 10 ran
We passed. Likely winner: Speed For Fun (6/5)
Won by: Louiescall (IRE) at 9/2 · then Speed For Fun (FR), Ivatt (GB)
What we said: Speed For Fun looks like the professional's dance at Tramore off the back of a placed effort at this trip and ground for the Mullins yard, but at 6/5 there's no margin left for me once the fall on debut and the first-time hood experiment are weighed, and nothing behind it — not Ballybollen with his solitary run on unproven ground, not the steamed-into Ivatt jumping up in trip — offers a case strong enough to release the market leader's grip on the race.
14:20 Frank Gillane Memorial Handicap Hurdle
We named the winner2m0f140y · Good · 16 ran
Our bet: Ina Mina (3/1)
Won by: Ina Mina (GB) at 3/1F · then Lanzhou (FR), Colesberg (IRE)
What we said: Won last time out over course and trip in identical good ground, and the form line 0880-1 shows a filly finally putting it together after a string of place efforts. She has a clean jumping record (5 of 5 completed) and her only two runs at this course have produced a win and a place, suggesting the track suits.
14:55 Frank King Memorial Maiden Hurdle
We named the winner2m5f80y · Good · 11 ran
We passed. Likely winner: Lady Lena (8/13)
Won by: Lady Lena (IRE) at 5/6F · then Market Ready (IRE), Something Fabulous (IRE)
What we said: Lady Lena looks the class act on Mullins form (32- with a solid second last time) but she's out 294 days, has never raced on good ground in her two starts, and is already trading short enough that there's no room for those question marks to go wrong; nothing else in this maiden — not Something Fabulous fresh off 134 days, not Goodmancon's modest placed form — offers a case worth backing at the numbers on offer.
15:30 Victoria House Tramore Mares Beginners Steeplechase
Placed2m6f0y · Good · 9 ran
Our bet: Future Prospect (6/4)
Won by: La Note Verte (GB) at 13/8F · then Future Prospect (IRE)
What we said: Top-rated mare in this beginners' chase on a 124 mark, with a clear upward trend in form (43-F22) and a perfect recent jumping log (5 of 7 completed), stepping up markedly in trip today which her Order Of St George stamina pedigree and stable's best-placed jockey Danny Mullins both suggest she can handle. She's the one Mullins has put his number one rider on among three runners, and the form since resuming has been building into this.
16:05 McCarthy's Irish Bar Lexington Handicap Steeplechase
Placed2m6f0y · Good · 10 ran
We passed. Likely winner: Watch The Weather (11/2)
Won by: A Snow White Park (IRE) · then Pourquoi Poi (IRE), Watch The Weather (GB)
What we said: This 2m6f handicap chase is too jumbled to make a confident stand: A Snow White Park heads the market on fair%% terms but comes here off an unseated-rider run and has raced at this trip only once, Nastya was pulled up last time out despite a solid finish before that, and Watch The Weather carries top weight fluently but doesn't clear the field by any real margin. With Tullyveery Lad, Pourquoi Poi and Intense Approach all carrying live but scattered form lines too, nothing separates the leading four or five at the prices on offer.
16:35 Heinz Pollmeier Memorial Handicap Steeplechase
Did not win1m7f140y · Good · 10 ran
We passed. Likely winner: Bossing It (3/1)
Won by: Kingdom Calling (FR) at 15/2 · then Presenting Lad (IRE), Itsalonglongroad (GB)
What we said: Bossing It carries the shortest fair odds in this line-up but there's nothing beyond the number itself to build a case on, and she's flanked by Presenting Lad (top-rated but pulled up last time and now trying a tongue strap for the first time) and Ballinaboola Gold (in form with a -25795 sequence but sporting a poor record at this specific trip); three horses with legitimate claims and no angle that separates them cleanly. The rest of the field — Itsalonglongroad up sharply in trip, Katherine and Ray Gun both freshly-geared or freshly-run long-shots — round out a race that reads as a genuine toss-up rather than one with a home.
17:05 Irish Stallion Farms EBF Mares Flat Race
We named the winner2m0f140y · Good · 12 ran
Our bet: Village Dream (2/1)
Won by: Village Dream (IRE) at 4/5F · then Myluckymaker (IRE), Pamelaisbrass (IRE)
What we said: Comfortably the best-rated mare in the field on that PR86 for a fifth of eight last time out, and today's conditions repeat exactly (same 17f trip, same good ground) rather than asking a new question of her. The M.O. Quigley/O'Sullivan-type unknowns around her carry little to go on, so the one runner with a real form figure to lean on stands out in a race short on solid evidence elsewhere.
