Monday 27th January
By SP2A Analysis
Punchestown 4.10 Handicap Hurdle - 2 miles 7 furlongs - 21 run - soft
A tale of 2 races really with old favourites HE FITZ IN, Stellar Symphony, and CHER WHY NOT amongst a handful whose form is more obvious than the majority of the rest.
We then have a few probable improvers in That's Me Finished, upped in trip and carrying a 7lbs penalty for a win 5 months ago, he might just need the run aside from trip and weight concerns. Backonthegoagain has an impressive 3 mile P2P win in his locker but has been poor over Hurdles so far but the move back up in trip rates him a dark horse to note and Imperial Tune drops a little bit in Class in terms of the depth of the opposition outside of the top 4 or 5, so on form could nick a place. Phoenix Cowboy; Person Of Interest and Western Sunrise who I have added to my TRACKER from today) are the others who merited a degree of consideration.
At the top end of the market we have 3 who caught my eye with bits of form at prices around 25/1 or higher, SHUIL NA TRA has a win on soft at over 3 miles off a mark of 84 and has had a run and races off a mark of 90 with a 5lbs Claimer up, DOYEN FLYER has had a couple of 4th place finishes when upped to this sort of trip in the past off marks of 93 and 94, has had a run to tighten up, so a mark of 87 with a 5lbs Claimer also looks interesting. Of the remainder Imboic had its best ever effort at 2 miles and 6 furlongs in heavy ground off a mark of 82 and runs of 77 less a 7lbs Claim, so once again a case with some logic could be made, and it's a Tipsters job to do that and to provide the evidence.
The easy punt would be He Fitz In, Stellar Symphony (whose mark may be a little high and who may not want it quite this soft) and Master of the Sums (who goes up to near his P2P winning trip for the first time under Rules) and I don't lightly rule that out. Backonthegoagain and Imperial Tune are dangerous but I'm set on a few at bigger rices so my 1-2-3-4 top rated are HE FITZ IN (who ticks every box), CHER WHY NOT (my only niggle is whether age may be catching up), SHIL NA TRA and DOYEN FLYER (for the logic above)...enhanced places and we'll hope to have picked the right pieces in the puzzle. (Placespotter)
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PUNCHESTOWN 3.40 - Driveonwill and John The Diva - may be worth a small e/w flutter in a race with very little known form in general to go on, where Silas Marner would be the one to beat.. (Placespotter)