2024 Leopardstown DRF Sunday Tips – DS
2024 Leopardstown DRF Sunday Tips
Il Etait Temps saved the day for us on Saturday. Titan Discovery also placed at 12s but that was it. Brandy McQueen and Barbados Buck’s both ran like they didn’t want to be there and Intellotto wasn’t good enough. A final hurdle blunder cost Collingham any chance of a place and Ballybawn Belter was a non trier. Dave Stevos’ 2024 Leopardstown DRF Sunday previews and tips are below.
1.10 – Ladbrokes Novice Chase (Grade 1)
After his gallant effort in the Arkle yesterday, Found A Fifty will surely be a non-runner. That will leave just four horses in this race so it will be a win only affair. That is of no use to us, unfortunately.
Gaelic Warrior is 11/10 to complete his three timer and Grangeclare West, on a four timer himself, is the 13/2 third fav. Fact To File is chalked up at 2/1 on the back of his impressive win here back in December.
It is hard to see past the fav to be honest, especially after Il Etait Temps franked the form of his Limerick win here yesterday. An easy race for us to leave alone. No bet.
2024 Leopardstown DRF Sunday Tips: No bet
1.40 – Tattersalls Novice Hurdle (Grade 1)
Ballyburn is a hot favourite for this after his wide margin victory here back in December (20f sft/hvy). He previously chased Firefox home at Fairyhouse on his hurdles debut over 16f and he now drops back down to that trip today. That has to rate as a worry for me. This son of Flemensfirth is from a family of stayers and on breeding, he’ll surely be going markedly up in trip in the future.
Farren Glory fell when looking the most likely winner in an Aintree G1 last time. He has already won a G1 over hurdles at Fairyhouse and he has the best form in the race. He does seem to relish soft ground though so he won’t want it to dry out too much.
King Interesting
The interesting one from an e/w perspective has to be King Of Kingsfield. He failed to win a maiden hurdle in his first two attempts. Slade Steel beat him at Naas and Redstone beat him at Fairyhouse. Gordon Elliott still thought enough of him to enter him in the G1 Royal Bond and he ran a stormer, finishing 1.5L behind Farren Glory.
The son of Vadamos got off the mark here on Stephen’s Day, landing a maiden by 6L (16f yld). The drying ground at Leopardstown should be right up his street on Sunday and I think he’ll get closer to both Farren Glory and Slade Steel than he did on more testing ground.
Jack Kennedy prefers Farren Glory, hardly surprising considering he has the best form in the race. King of Kingsfield’s form isn’t far off his and at the prices, I’d prefer to be on Sam Ewing’s mount e/w.
2024 Leopardstown DRF Sunday Tips: King of Kingsfield e/w @ 12/1 nap
2.10 – Ladbrokes Dublin Chase (Grade 1)
El Fabiolo is the headline act here. Willie Mullins’ decision to swerve the Clarence House after it was moved to Ascot didn’t go down well in some quarters. However, he is back in action today and the 172 rated chaser is 4/9 to continue his winning sequence. Can anything stop him? Probably not.
Dinoblue is an up and coming mare who landed a G1 chase here during the Xmas Festival. She has won four since chasing home our 66/1 Champion Chase ante-post fancy Maskada at Cheltenham last March. She beat Gentleman Du Mee by 7.5L here last time and while she should uphold that form, she is unlikely to be able to live with El Fabiolo.
Captain Guinness is 16/1 and that would look big if he were on a going day. However, he is probably best watched today after he threw in a stinker here last time. Saint Roi is another capable performer at his best, the problem is we haven’t seen his best for some time. A race to watch and enjoy, hopefully El Fabiolo puts on an exhibition.
2024 Leopardstown DRF Sunday Tips: No bet
2.45 – Irish Champion Hurdle (Grade 1)
Yet another uncompetitive looking Grade 1 with just five runners and a prohibitively priced fav. State Man is just 1/3 to back up his Xmas win and it is hard to see him faltering. Impaire Et Passe got to within 3.75L of him here in December. An admirable performance from a horse that probably wants half a mile further than this trip. He should run another good race but he probably lacks the turn of foot that State Man possesses.
The same sentiment applies to Bob Olinger. It was great to see him land a second G2 in a row at Cheltenham last time but they were both at 20f. He has never won at this trip in his career and that is unlikely to change this afternoon.
Echoes Of Interest
The interesting one for e/w players has to be Echoes In Rain. The man of the moment Danny Mullins rides and this 8yo mare has finished behind State Man the last twice. She was 11L behind him on heavy here last December but on slightly better ground, she got to within 5L of him at Punchestown in November.
Ground is important to this daughter of Authorized. She won her maiden on heavy but she has done the majority of her winning on soft or quicker. It was yielding when she won her Grade 1 at Punchestown in 2021 and it should be near enough to that at Leopardstown tomorrow.
It is very unlikely that she’ll beat State Man but she doesn’t have to find much to beat the other two at the top of the market. Yes, Impaire finished well ahead of her last time but today’s ground will suit Echoes In Rain better. If she can get to within 5L of State Man again, that may well be enough to nick second so at 20/1, back her e/w.
2024 Leopardstown DRF Sunday Tips: Echoes In Rain e/w @ 20/1
3.20 – Leopardstown Handicap Chase (Grade 3)
Off the same rating off which he finished third in this last season, maybe Top Ville Ben can outrun his odds of 40/1. Sophie Leech landed a lovely pot for the UK here on Saturday and this son of Beneficial will be partnered by Robbie Dunne as he tries to emulate Madara.
Since that excellent effort here last year, Top Ville Ben seemed to lose his way. He failed to complete over a variety of trips on three of his next four starts and when he did manage to finish, he was well beat in the Topham at Aintree.
Back On Form
After falling and pulling up on his first two runs this term he made a very welcome return to form at Aintree on Stephen’s Day (20f sft). He ran well in a four runner race to finish second, 3.25L behind Mac Tottie. It was Robbie Dunne’s first try on Top Ville Ben and he got a good tune out of him.
Last season Phil Kirby’s charge was beat 45L on his prep run for this at Wetherby so that last effort was very encouraging. He enjoyed his experience here last year and while he races off the same mark, he’ll have 13lbs less on his back.
Maybe his best days are behind him but given that he has made the trip across the Irish Sea, hopefully he’ll be doing his best, even from 6lbs out of the weights. If he can repeat last year’s performance, maybe Top Ville Ben can land place money at odds of 40/1.
2024 Leopardstown DRF Sunday Tips: Top Ville Ben e/w @ 40/1 (6 places)
3.50 – Sash Windows Handicap Hurdle (Listed)
The cat is well and truly out of the bag as far as Ataboycharlie is concerned. We landed a lovely touch with King Eddie Cawley’s charge here in December at 20s but he is the 13/2 favourite today. I’m not sure that a 12lbs rise will be enough to stop him today and if he does win, he will surely head to Cheltenham for the County Hurdle in March.
Unfortunately, he is far too short for the blog today so we’ll look elsewhere for some e/w value. Last year we nicked a lovely place in this race with Nibiru at very tasty odds. He found just Gaelic Warrior too good by 3.75L off a mark of 122 and he is back to try again off just 1lb higher. Philip Enright was on board that day and he is back in the plate again.
The 9yo son of Casamento likes it at Leopardstown. He has never won here but he has form figures of 3062 over hurdles and he has twice finished runner up here on the flat. Tony Martin gave him a prep run at Dundalk three weeks ago which should have blown away any cobwebs and the more the ground dries out, the better it will suit him.
If he is on a going day, like last year, Nibiru can hopefully stay on late for a place at odds of 50/1.
