Thursday Racing Tips: Willie Mullins horse overpriced in the Stayers’ Hurdle

Flat racing holds sway across Britain and Ireland on Thursday with six meetings taking place across the afternoon and into the evening. However, our main focus will be on the stunning Punchestown festival which is the sole jumps card.

First off is Ayr before they go to Lingfield, Redcar, Punchestown, Doncaster and Chelmsford.

Amongst our Thursday racing tips is one for trainer Willie Mullins, who has a very patchy profile but is more than capable of getting involved in a Grade 1 lacking strength in depth.

15:40 Punchestown - Ballycallan King @ 12/1

Opening another fantastic card at Punchestown is the 24-runner 2m½f handicap hurdle, and the Barry Fitzgerald-trained BALLYCALLAN KING is a live each-way contender in the hands of 7lb claimer Sean Cleary-Farrell.

The seven-year-old produced a career-best performance over 2m at Limerick when last seen, forging clear from the back of the second-last and powering to the line to score by ten lengths.

Raised 9lb by the handicapper as a consequence, the penalty is more than warranted, and although his latest success was in very testing conditions, he does have form on a sounder surface.

16:15 Punchestown - Solness @ 12/1

Joseph O'Brien tasted Grade 1 success here with Banbridge already this week, and SOLNESS is taken to bounce back from a poor run in the Grand Annual when last seen running at the Cheltenham Festival.

It was the first time the six-year-old encountered proper heavy conditions. He handles soft ground just fine but didn't enjoy himself on the day and he was well beaten for a finish.

Solness ran out an impressive winner of a Listed race at Leopardstown in December, and stayed on well into third in a valuable Listed handicap at the Dublin Racing Festival in February. Only a pound higher now, he is a big player here in first-time cheekpieces.

18:00 Punchestown - Asterion Forlonge @ 17/2

This might turn out to be a mad pick given the horse's profile, but if ASTERION FORLONGE is on a going day he is a big player in a rather weak running of the 2m7½f Grade 1 Champion Stayers Hurdle.

If strong market leader Teahupoo underperforms, this is a wide-open contest. Home By The Lee, who is second in the betting, is far from reliable and while Buddy One has run with plenty of credit this season, he's not a true Grade 1 performer.

True legend Sire Du Berlais is shoving on in years now and that's why we'll take a chance on the Willie Mullins-trained ten-year-old, who arrives here off the back of winning a two-runner affair at Cork over fences.

He beat a good horse in Lucid Dreams comprehensively on the day, and although he has work to do judged on his Cheltenham Stayers' Hurdle sixth, he was only beaten by half a length in this race last year and had Teahupoo behind on that occasion.

Horse Racing Tips from Betfred Insights.