Horse Racing Tips: British raider could be a hit at Punchestown

There’s a cracking day of action across both sides of the Irish Sea on Tuesday afternoon.

Day one of the Punchestown Festival gets underway in Ireland while there’s a Classic Trial in the re-arranged Epsom fixture. We have picked out our three best bets from across the card including well-handicapped runner in Ireland.

14:40 Epsom - Pearl River @ 28/1

In the Blue Ribband trial at Epsom, New Zealand may take some beating if he’s trained on from two to three but given that Aidan O’Brien doesn’t have the strongest record in the race, he may not be near the top of the Ballydoyle pecking order for the Derby.

One intriguing runner is Pearl River for Richard Hannon. He was steadily progressive throughout last season, getting off the mark in a Nottingham handicap at the end of the campaign and it’s interesting that connections seem to be fine about blowing his handicap mark by running in this contest.

He’s well suited to an ease in the ground so the rain that Epsom got on Monday could be a big help, particularly with several of his rivals probably wanting a quicker surface. If that turns out to be the case, he looks a little overpriced at 28/1 or bigger.

15:05 Punchestown - Almuhit @ 7/1

Faye Bramley has a couple of interesting runners in a handicap hurdle at Punchestown on Tuesday, perhaps most notably Almuhit who is the mount of Harry Cobden.

This seven-year-old was a bit below form on the Flat last time but his penultimate hurdle run was a promising effort when runner-up to an unexposed prospect for Seven Barrows.

Given that he’s rated 85 on the Flat and it’s relatively early days over timber for these connections, he appeals as well handicapped and given that he was well backed for this contest last year when finishing runner-up, this has probably been the long-term target

He’s only 4lb higher for this renewal and looks like an each-way player with Betfred paying five places on the race.

16:28 Yarmouth - Shallow @ 4/1

There’s a potential uncontested lead on the cards for Shallow who was a progressive filly last season and is back lurking on a dangerous mark.

She was a little outclassed at Newcastle last time out but she had been running with some promise prior to that effort and the booking of Silvestre De Sousa looks like a positive jockey move for a horse that likes to get on with things.

First-time cheekpieces could also help and with the yard running at a 40% strike-rate at the time of writing, this filly looks capable of a big run in a race that doesn’t look like it will take much winning.

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