The Dublin Racing Festival begins on Saturday and looks to kick a sensational weekend of racing at Leopardstown. Paddy Power have made sure it will be a treat for punters, with their new customer offer of Bet £20, get £60 In Free Bets.
The Nathaniel Lacy & Partners Solicitors “50,000 Cheltenham Bonus For Stable Staff” Nov Hurdle is the first race of the Dublin Racing Festival. This will be the key race for new customers with Paddy Power.
Simply open an account, place £20 on the 1.05 at Leopardstown and you will receive a £10 Free Bet for EVERY other race at the track on Saturday. That’s a total of £60 in Free Bets!
To go alongside this tremendous Paddy Power new customer offer, GG have previewed every runner in the race at hand, to see if we can make your qualifying bet a winning one.
BRONN 5/1
A winner for Stuart Crawford in a bumper last season, BRONN, owned by Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, was transferred to Willie Mullins in December.
He seemed to make very hard work of winning a Naas maiden hurdle on January 2. Indeed, he was possibly lucky to keep the race in the stewards’ room and the runner-up was only third next time out.
That said, the third has won since and while he may have lacked a turn of foot at two miles, he is not ruled out from taking a step forward over further. He won his bumper over 2m1½f which suggests he could cope stamina wise.
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ERIC BLOODAXE 11/2
Joseph O’Brien has enjoyed a more prosperous spell recently, with three winners over jumps in the past week across Britain and Ireland.
ERIC BLOODAXE was a very useful bumper performer for two seasons and made an excellent start to life over hurdles at Naas in November. However, 2m4f on yielding ground showed his pace to be lacking and he was put in his place by Ginto.
Three weeks later, he went a long way to making amends, winning a Limerick Grade 2 when stepped up to 2m7f on heavy ground. That victory came in spite of some occasionally errant leaps.
He is possibly the only horse in this race for whom this trip and ground might be on the sharp side based on his last run, but if it does become a stamina test, he is in a great position to take advantage.
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FREEDOM TO DREAM 28/1
Peter Fahey has had to bide his time with FREEDOM TO DREAM, who was second to Appreciate It in a bumper in 2019.
He was then off the track for 697 days, but belied the break to score on his hurdles bow. That also coincided with his first run on ground quicker than soft, a bonus for Saturday.
That said, he looked to be very fairly put in his place by Eric Bloodaxe at Limerick and the 7½ lengths he will have to make up on just that rival looks insurmountable.
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GRAND JURY 9/2
Henry De Bromhead, Rachael Blackmore and Robcour: a trio that is swiftly taking charge of Irish racing.
Bob Olinger and Journey With me are already short prices for the Cheltenham Festival and GRAND JURY could yet follow them if appreciating this extra trip.
He was a very respectable second in the Grade 1 Lawlor’s Of Naas Novice Hurdle to another very useful novice in Ginto, only losing out after the last flight. While that initially suggests concerns about his stamina, he was consistently inconvenienced up the straight by the winner jumping out to his right.
A return to better ground should help and he looks right in the mix again.
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HOLLOW GAMES 15/8
Unbeaten until defeat by stablemate Ginto at Naas, HOLLOW GAMES arguably advanced his profile due to his first loss.
He was stepping up to Grade 1 company for the first time that day and was a promising third, staying on best of any towards the end. That bodes extremely well for this extra distance, over which he won very cosily on his herding debut in October.
His technique over his obstacles has generally improved and will also be better suited by the likely slower tempo. Three miles looks well within his range and he is clearly blessed with significant talent. The Albert Bartlett is likely to come next if he puts in another good display here.
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MINELLA COCOONER 12/1
Well done if you avoided confusion looking at no.6 and 7 on the racecard here. It is imperative to recognise the difference between MINELLA COCOONER and Minella Crooner.
The primary difference between the lexically similar pair is the stables they represent. Minella Cocooner represents Willie Mullins and goes in a first-time hood here.
He and Grand Jury actually met in a point-to-point in November 2020 with Grand Jury coming out the better. However, this six-year-old has improved for the National Hunt game, winning a bumper last summer and also a maiden hurdle at Navan over 2m4f.
However, he was also beaten on his hurdling debut, which was not the strongest contest. His form is less appealing altogether than the majority here.
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MINELLA CROONER 15/4
A winner of his only point and both bumpers, MINELLA CROONER is another for whom defeat potentially enhanced his celebrity more.
His second at Leopardstown in December came in one of the strongest maiden hurdles in recent years. The winner was Journey With Me, already well-fancied for whichever novice hurdle he contests at Cheltenham. The third was Kilcruit, Punchestown Champion Bumper hero and ready winner of his next start in a good time.
Throw in former Group level flat performer Falcon Eight and the fact Minella Crooner finished second is a big positive. He hacked up next time out over three miles and looks a burgeoning star over staying trips.
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Verdict
This looks a strong race and the top five in the market all have reasonable claims. MINELLA CROONER edges the verdict, as he looks to have almighty potential, but both Hollow Games and Grand Jury are greatly respected.
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Place a single £20 (or £10 e/w) bet on the 13:05 race at Leopardstown, Saturday 5th of February. Get a 10 free bet for each of the remaining race on the card (£60 in total). Only deposits with Cards apply (Apple pay deposits are excluded). T&C apply. gambleaware.org