This Weekend’s Irish National Hunt Tips at Navan and Gowran Park

This filly had been unlucky recently in a couple of starts, not getting a clear run at Cork on her first start for this yard to just bumping into one when beat by Struck By Churchill at this track on her penultimate start. She made no mistake at Punchestown on Tuesday when she was given a nice quiet ride by Nathan Crosse to come and challenge a furlong out, and once she was given the office to go, she quickened clear and put the race to bed in a matter of strides.

She won easy by almost four lengths that day and turning out here under a mandatory penalty she's thrown in and I'll be shocked if she doesn't go in again.

Here we are going back to a horse we are familiar with from just a week ago. We supported this Johnny Murtagh inmate in a big field handicap at Leopardstown on Irish Champions weekend. That was his most disappointing result for a while but with good reason. He never got into a prominent position last weekend and raced in a race where they went a ferocious gallop and even in the straight, he just got no run and wasn't given an overly hard time because of that.

He drops markedly in class here from one of the most hotly contested 7F handicaps of the season to a five runner conditions race at a track that really favours prominent racers. He won't find many better opportunities to win a race. He's a strong bet.

Now this horse might not be the biggest price in the world but I'm hoping bar a market collapse that we will get 5/1 or 6/1 fingers crossed. This horse has had just four starts in a short career, and this is the strongest test of stamina he has faced today. He started out over a mile and races here over a mile and six furlongs. He raced over a mile and a half last time at Roscommon on handicap debut where he raced in rear before staying on late under tender handling to finish fifth beaten just four and a half lengths.

The handicapper has dropped him 1lb for that effort and it's very interesting that Emmet uses Michael O'Sullivan for what would be a rare ride on the flat and with the added bonus he can still claim 3lbs on the level. All things considered he looks booked for a big run.