2022 Punchestown Day 1 Preview and Tips – DS
2022 Punchestown Day 1 Preview and Tips
We had to make do with a place at the weekend. Oh This Is Us was there to win, he just didn’t have an ideal passage. Zacony Rebel ran a blinder, only fading after the second last. Domaine De L’Isle was in pig mode and he never really looked interested. Now the focus switches to Ireland and the Punchestown Festival. I have to admit, this is not my favourite meeting of the year. More often than not it is a Willie Mullins benefit and it’s not much fun trying to read races when he trains five or six of the runners. However, we’ll do our best to find a few value bets, check out Dave Stevos’ 2022 Punchestown Day 1 preview and tips below.
3.40 – Mares’ Novice Hurdle (Listed)
Thankfully Willie Mullins only trains three of the eleven contenders in this Listed contest. Maiden hurdle winner Dinoblue is 6/4 for him with Mark Walsh doing the steering. That win came on bottomless ground at Clonmel and she has come up well short on better ground the last twice. It wasn’t an awful run last time at Fairyhouse , I’m just not sure I’d be lumping on a horse with her profile at her current odds. Maybe 2 miles on quick ground is what she needs, it’ll be interesting to see how she gets on.
Party Central finished well ahead of the fav when they met at Cheltenham. She is a course winner, a distance winner and she has won on good ground. If I was backing either of the top two she would definitely be the one at odds of around 7/2. At monstrous odds, if Highstreet Roller could reproduce the level of her penultimate chase run behind Riviere D’etel and Jeremy’s Flame now back over hurdles, she could sneak some black type from the front.
This mare needs good ground and back in October she finished 3rd in a Mares’ Chase at Fairyhouse. Riviere D’etel won easy but Highstreet Roller battled on bravely and just failed to nick 2nd from Jeremy’s Flame. That horse has since narrowly been beaten in a pair of G2s and is rated 140. If she is fully fit and ready to rock and roll after her break, Highstreet Roller could sneak some black type at 100/1.
2022 Punchestown Day 1 Tip: Highstreet Roller e/w @ 100/1
4.15 – Champion Novice Hurdle (Grade 1)
In what is a recurring theme, a brutal turnout for this Grade 1 Novice Hurdle. Just five runners and two trained by Willie Mullins. Townend prefers Sir Gerhard, an obvious enough choice considering his performance at Cheltenham. The drop back in trip is the only slight concern but he had no problem winning at 16f on his last try in a Grade 1 at Leopardstown. Dysart Dynamo fell in March at the third last. It was too soon to say whether he’d have given Constitution Hill something to think about but I highly doubt he would have.
Mighty Potter could be an interesting one at 10/1 for Kennedy and Elliott. He won a G1 at Leopardstown at Christmas and his trainer was badly out of form when he pulled up at Cheltenham. He is a far better animal than he showed that day and he is back at the scene of his 5L bumper win. His price could be a bit of an overreaction to that Supreme run and he could bounce back. The fav is going to be hard to beat but at 10/1, hopefully Mighty Potter can give us a run for our money.
2022 Punchestown Day 1 Tip: Mighty Potter e/w @ 10/1
4.50 – Handicap Hurdle (Grade B)
Eddie O’Grady has his horses in decent shape at the moment and Act Of God looks an interesting contender for him here. This son of Camelot is 3/11 over hurdles with two of those victories coming on decent enough ground over 16f. He has won on softer ground too but the majority of his best form has come on a sounder surface. Today he races off a mark of 131, 6lbs higher than he was when winning at Bellewstown back in August.
That wasn’t the deepest of races but he backed it up with a solid run off his revised rating at Listowel in a better race. He then won over 14f on the flat before running no race over 3 miles at Aintree. He returns from a 171 day break today but he has gone well fresh before so that isn’t a worry.
His form figures for O’Grady after breaks of 150+ days read 114. Four of his six wins have come going right handed, he ran a cracker at this meeting last season on ground that was soft enough for him so at odds of 25/1, Act Of God is worth chancing each way.
2022 Punchestown Day 1 Tip: Act Of God e/w @ 25/1 (5 places) NB
5.25 – Champion Chase (Grade 1)
This looks to be a match between the big two. Energumene is odds on to follow up his easy win at Cheltenham. Chacun Pour Soi fell in that contest but he’ll be a lot more at home at Punchestown. The other three look to be making up the numbers. Who wins? I don’t really have an opinion. I’d probably narrowly prefer Chacun due to his record on home turf. However, at 13/8 he doesn’t appeal to me as a betting proposition. No Bet.
2022 Punchestown Day 1 Tip: No Bet
6.35 – Champion Novice Chase (Grade 1)
Just the seven will go to post for this 24f Grade 1 and it is pretty open. Bob Olinger is the fav at 11/8 but he was a fortunate winner at Cheltenham. On his day he is a bit of an aeroplane but after that laboured display he could be worth taking on. The one I like upped in trip to 24f is Millers Bank. Trained by Alex Hales, this horse produced a career best at Aintree last time. He won that 20f G1 doing handstands and it didn’t look like he was stopping at the finish.
Going right handed really suits this horse, as his form figures show (11212). He is also at his best on good or good to soft ground, so underfoot conditions will be to his liking. On pedigree and run style the new trip should suit and his jockey Kielan Woods has had a few spins around Punchestown before so he knows the track well. A peak Bob Olinger will be hard to beat but he has nothing to fear from the rest. 12/1 looks too big a price about Millers Bank and he is the each way selection.
