2022 Thyestes Handicap Chase Tips by Dave Stevos
2022 Thyestes Handicap Chase Preview
This is the biggest race held at Gowran Park during the NH season. In recent renewals, Mullins and Elliott have dominated. They have won it twice each in the last four seasons and they aren’t just winning it, they are mopping up the place prize money too. In 2021 they had the 1-2-3-4-5, in 2020 they had the 1-2-5, in 2019 they had the 1-2-3-4-5 and in 2018 they had the 1-3-5 between them. In the 2022 Thyestes Handicap Chase they have ten runners between them (five each) as well as two of the three reserves.
Franco Well Backed
One of best backed of the Mullins/Elliott brigade has been Franco De Port. A general 20/1 shot before declarations, he halved in price after it was revealed that Paul Townend would ride. We backed Franco on his last couple of starts when Bryony Frost rode.
He wasn’t disgraced in the John Durkan over 20f but he was beat 30L at Leopardstown over 24f. Willie Mullins has said he thinks this horse is a 3 miler and on his staying on second behind Janidil last April, I can see why he does. However, it is hard to argue he is well handicapped off 153 and he is too short in the betting for my liking.
Ontheropes will be the mount of Sean O’Keefe and he won the Munster National three runs ago off 141. He was then well beat at Newbury off 153 before finishing well behind Fury Road in a G1 at Leopardstown. Has the handicapper caught up with him now? He is in off 151 on Thursday and I don’t think he has much wriggle room off that mark.
Third Time Lucky
The Mullins horse that looks most overpriced is course specialist Class Conti. Bryan Cooper gets the leg up on this 10yo and he has run blinders in the last two renewals of this. Last year, he finished 3rd, 5L behind Coko Beach off 147. In 2020 he finished 2nd, beat 5.5L by Total Recall off 145. This year he is in off 146 so he is 10lbs better off with Coko Beach who is a 14/1 poke.
Class Conti can be backed at 22/1 and that looks too big. He acts on this track and Mullins has likely aimed him at the race. He was pulled up in his prep run at Leopardstown but I wouldn’t be too worried about that. In 2020 he was beat 106L before running so well in this. In 2020 he was beat 33L and fell in his two previous runs before finishing 2nd. This slightly less testing ground may help him to see out the trip a little bit better and at the current odds, he is worth backing e/w.
Patriot Overpriced
Another one that could be overpriced is Ex Patriot. Trained by Ellmarie Holden, this very talented horse hasn’t yet fulfilled his immense potential. Now a 9yo, the son of Elusive Pimpernel has a big pot in him and if he is going to win one, it will most likely be this contest. In 2020 he ran a cracker to finish 4th behind Total Recall off 146 and he is in off 2lbs lower today. His last win came at this track over 18f in 2019 when he won a decent handicap off 136. He has never finished outside the first four in three previous chase runs at Gowran (414).
Ex Patriot had a satisfactory run to blow away the cobwebs at Ascot last month. Yes, he was beat 29L by L’Homme Presse but Ex Patriot was carrying 11lbs more and when you consider it was his first run in over a year, he did well to nick a bit of prize money in 4th. I’d imagine Holden has had this race in mind for some time and on his runs in this race and at Cheltenham in 2020, he is competitively handicapped. Soft ground is fine, Donie McInerney has been placed on both previous rides for Holden and he could easily outrun his odds of 28/1.
