Rory Delargy has today's Punting Pointers and he has three selections at Punchestown and Taunton.
Racing betting tips: Thursday December 11
0.5pts e.w Da Capo Glory in the 12:20 Punchestown at 33/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3) – min 25/1
1pt e.w St Lukes Chelsea in the 13:35 Taunton at 9/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3,4) – min 15/2
1pt win Smugglers Haven in the 14:05 Taunton at 11/4 (General) – min 5/2
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12:20 Punchestown – Beginners Chase 2m7f
The meeting at Punchestown has had to be postponed until today due to the state of the track and the going remains heavy on the chase course. It’s lazily accepted that most Irish horses revel in the mud, but that’s far from true and digging through the formbook to find those who prefer this surface has been revealing.
DA CAPO GLORY has form figures on ground described by Timeform as heavy of 1131377, and he has shaped well on all of those starts, the penultimate run being when behind Langer Dan off a mark of 145 in the 2024 Coral Cup and he would likely have finished in the frame at Cork next time but for losing ground and momentum with a last-flight blunder. He can be careless at his hurdles, falling on his return from a long absence at Galway and it’s to be hoped that fences make him concentrate. If they do, he’s well treated at the weights in this beginners’ chase. He stays 2m5f but ran creditably on his only try at 3m and he should find this trip within his compass.
The negatives are that we don’t know what ability remains and this is a relatively late start for a chasing career due to his layoff, but 33/1 is much too big based on the ability he showed over hurdles and his affinity for the conditions. As for the Galway effort, that does raise jumping concerns, but I take some hope from the fact that Padraig Butler sent out James The Brave to win on chase debut in October after that horse had a blow-out at Galway over hurdles, and he’s following a similar routine here.
13:35 Taunton – Class 5 (0-100) Handicap Hurdle 2m104y
Robert Walford has trained just three winners this season, and that would normally be a cause for concern, but with two of those coming in the past five days, it would appear that his is a stable to keep a close eye on in December. ST LUKES CHELSEA didn’t race beyond a mile on the Flat and that tends to suggest a lack of stamina for hurdles but in his case there wasn’t any opportunity to race over much further, with his only season to race on the level coming as a two-year-old. He’s tended to be keen so far over hurdles, but is gradually improving his form and kept on well in a race not run to suit him at Wincanton last time.
His stable’s recent winners have both been ridden by Harry Kimber so it is no bad thing that Kimber is aboard St Lukes Chelsea here and the gelding settled much better in a hood last time than he had been doing, which gives hope that he can begin to progress as a hurdler. He’s been dropped 8lb since going handicapping and is now on a realistic mark, while he finished closer to Birthday Angel at Wincanton than favourite Premier did when 3rd to that handicapper at Plumpton a few days earlier. It’s unlikely that Birthday Angel went backwards between those wins, and St Luke’s Chelsea does appear to have the best recent form on offer here. The question is whether he can use that as a launching pad for something better, and at the prices, I’m inclined to answer in the affirmative.
14:05 Taunton – Class 4 (0-120) Handicap Chase 2m7f3y
With no rain forecast until the evening, the going on the chase course at Taunton should be close to good and that is ideal for the reliable SMUGGLERS HAVEN, who has excellent claims on the basis that he’s a last-time-out winner who is actually dropping in class and also back into novice company having won a very competitive amateur riders’ handicap at Cheltenham in October. That was a Class 3 open to horses rated 0-125, and this more provincial affair gives him an excellent chance of following up having been given a raise of just 2lb for beating Beaufort Scale and Regarde. Wisely given a break after that contest, Smugglers Haven is again ridden by trainer’s daughter Lily Bradstock who is able to draw her full 7lb allowance here, unlike at Cheltenham. The son of Elusive Pimpernel bounces off fast ground and will be able to race prominently as he prefers, with only Bertie Wooster of the opposition having raced prominently in recent starts.
Sara Bradstock is an unconventional trainer, but she knows what she’s doing having masterminded the Gold Cup victory of the novice Coneygree a few years ago and Lily is an accomplished horsewoman who is well capable of dictating matters to suit herself here.
Preview posted 10:20 GMT on 11/12/25
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