2010 PUNCHESTOWN FESTIVAL DAY ONE PREVIEW AND LATEST SELECTIONS PART ONE

We’ve got a fairly solid card set for the opening of the 2010 Punchestown Festival and day one always involves a mix of Grade 1 and 2 events with a few other interesting, albeit lower-profile races. We’ve got a few tips for the smaller races, but for all intents and purposes we will be focusing on the higher-grade races of the day.

The opener is the Kildare Hunt Club FR Sean Breen Memorial Chase, which boasts 23 runners and you can expect plenty of ups and downs here. This is a tricky race with no real discernable favourite here. I think Gothic Love is an interesting option and with some progression he could make a real statement. Another interesting shot is going to be Outlaw Pete- a JP McManus-owned 6 year-old who hasn’t had the best of times over the Punchestown surface, but will do well against a more open field this time out. Those are the two stand-outs for me, but this one could go in any direction.
The 2010 Evening Herald Champion Novice Hurlde is a Grade 1 event with a field of 10 going 2m. I’ll be backing Nicky Henderson’s General Miller in this one- a 5 year-old gelding who brings an inordinate amount of quality wins for such a lightly-raced charge. He scored at Aintree in the Grade 2 Top Novices Hurdle and they wouldn’t have deployed him today if he wasn’t fresh enough. He posted a UR on the 1st hurdle in the Supreme Novices so that’s a bit of an anomaly you can throw out. He’s 1112UR1 lifetime since last January. Grey Soldier comes in off the maiden circuit and has a bit more experience than others here and that may bode well. The only other one that really interests me is the intriguing Rollwiththepunches- he’s shown acumen when sent off at a higher price and may enjoy the course and distance here. Maybe a surprise, but I think General Miller is a solid selection.
The Three.ie Handicap Hurdle is a Grade C 2m contest with 28 set to line up for this one. I have a feeling this could be one of the longer-odds shots for the day, but I’m examining Slievecorragh, who is looking for a third win on the bounce having scored at Wexford and Naas back in March. He has performed fairly well in large crowds and should be able to deal with this level of competition. Heavily-raced for a six year-old and that class may shine through. King Rama at a lengthy price is also worth a look.