1:55 – INPBA On Track Bookmakers Handicap
The draw can be very important here at Bellewstown, but stall 6 should be ideal for our selection THE SNAPPER.
He is a lightly raced 3-year-old trained by Jack Davison and makes his first start of the new season on a very workable mark of 66. After 3 adequate runs in maidens, he finished 4th at Galway on his handicap debut when he was last seen in October. Having broken smartly, he travelled nicely into the race before tiring up the hill to eventually finish a 6-length 4th. The winner, Duke of Leggagh, has advertised that form by finishing 2nd in the Madrid Handicap and then winning at Navan earlier this week. With the benefit of hindsight, we can upgrade the form of The Snapper and he now looks very well treated on his first start as a 3-year-old with the tongue-strap applied for the first time too.
3:05 – His Majesty’s Cup Rated Race
A case can be made against most of this field, but if there is a horse in the lineup who will prove to be better than this company in time then it is surely THUNDERBEAR.
He was considered good enough to run in the Anglesey stakes behind Little Big Bear last season and followed that run with a series of consistent efforts in Nursery handicaps, culminating in a win at Fairyhouse in September. He didn’t seem to take to the all-weather at Dundalk when he was last seen, but that was his 10th start of a busy 2-year-old campaign and he ran like a horse in need of a break. The Blinkers are applied for the first-time to sharpen him up (won in first-time visor at Fairyhouse) and if he breaks well, he could prove hard to catch with Luke McAteer taking off a useful 3lbs.
4:50 – Compas Stallions Maiden
This race looks to be at the mercy of STAR KISSED.
Ger Lyons 4-year-old bumped into a couple of talented rivals when she finished 2nd on both starts last season, but a repeat of either effort should be more than enough to take this. She was beaten just a head by the 88-rated Hotter than Hades at Killarney when she was last seen in October and can be considered slightly unlucky not to have held on after winning a protracted battle for the lead with a pair of Aiden O’Brien trained fillies only to be picked off late by a fast-finishing winner. This race looks much easier, and she should get her 4-year-old season off to a winning start.
