Our Irish expert Tony Keenan had a 12/1 winner Friday and now looks ahead to today's action from the final day of the Punchestown Festival.
Irish racing tips: Saturday May 2
0.5pts e.w Mojoe in the 17.30 Punchestown at 20/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3,4,5)
The last day of Punchestown clashes with the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket, and punters could be forgiven for switching their attentions to the flat, but there are still some interesting races on the final day of the Irish national hunt season.
The first Grade 1 on the card is the SBK Irish EBF Mares Champion Hurdle at 16:15 where Jade De Grugy looks a little overpriced to reverse Cheltenham form with Wodhooh. She had little go right in the Mares’ Hurdle, awkward at the first and nearly unseating Paul Townend, then racing keenly in rear.
Badly positioned relative to the winner, she did well to get as close as she did. It is apparent by now that Wodhooh does little in front, and it is possible she had more again in the locker, but she had the much kinder trip through the race and Jade De Grugy may be able to win this for the second year in a row.
The four-year-olds have been doing extremely well against their older novice rivals this week, Lord Byron another to run a cracker last evening, which makes the Ballymore Champion Four Year Old Hurdle (16:55) a race to watch closely with a view to the future.
Apolon De Charnie won the Triumph Hurdle and might well follow up here given he is open to more improvement than most but while I am not sure he was the best horse at Cheltenham, I am pretty certain he got the best ride, Patrick Mullins waiting longer than anyone to move which suited how the race went.
Saratoga is a dangerous rival and looks a touch overpriced. His maiden hurdle form gives him no chance but his big target race was the Fred Winter, and he won it with plenty in hand and there should be more to come.
It is a positive for his chance that Mark Walsh is on him ahead of Proactif, telling us with the McManus team think of the Fairyhouse Easter form, but the one that shaped best in that race was Majolique. She had to come from much further back than ideal and met some traffic en route before finishing third and has her chance.
Jump Allen was about the unluckiest loser of Cheltenham in the Martin Pipe and is understandably short for the Lawlor's Of Naas Handicap Hurdle at 17:30. His price gives the race an appealing each-way shape, however, and three horses stand out as alternatives.
Letos won the Brown Lad at Naas in November with more in hand than the margin, and that form was boosted by the efforts of the second, third and fifth since, while he himself got back on track last time in the Pertemps Final despite being stretched by the trip. He travelled strongly for much of the race and raced on the unfavoured inner before finishing fourth and this trip looks more in his favour.
Thisistheway won the Red Mills final at this meeting last year and this race looks an obvious long term target for her. She shaped well in a similar contest at Leopardstown over Christmas, travelling best, and goes well fresh so it is no harm she has had just one run on the flat since. The last furlong is a worry with her for stamina reasons, though there does not seem much pace in this.
MOJOE is the selection, however. One of the most progressive horses in the field, he has taken well to handicaps lately and seems suited by big field scenarios where he can get cover. He showed an impressive turn of foot to win here in January but was not so good in a smaller field next time before winning well at Naas last time.
He travelled strongly that day, winning with plenty in hand, and while the second is an unreliable sort, the third has run well since and as has the fourth who won a valuable handicap here on Thursday. The ground will be much faster now, but his trainer says he should enjoy it, and hopefully he won’t be too far back.
The two handicap chases early on the card look extra-competitive, but they might come down to which jockeys have the cop on to go the outside route. That was the key to chases on this card last year, and it looked to be heading that way at last evening’s meeting too.
Beachcomber is one that ran a cracker down the unfavoured inside in last year’s Pat Taaffe and he is lower in the weights this time around, but is a worry that he takes the same route now.
Today's Selection
Preview published at 08:35 BST on 02/05/26
More from Sporting Life
- Free bets
- Racecards
- Fast results
- Full results and free video replays
- Horse racing news
- Horse racing tips
- Horse racing features
- Download our free iOS and Android app
- Football and other sports tips
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
