16:05 Fairyhouse

Sunday 2 April 2017

All13:5014:2014:5515:3016:0516:4017:10

Easter Festival April 16th-18th Novice Hurdle (Grade 2)

Off time: 16:05 | Winning time: 5m 7.7s

Any Second Now³⁵

Age: 5| Weight: 11-10| J: B J Geraghty| T: T M Walsh| OR: 142

7/1

Winning record went in disappointing style at Naas in February, though race was perhaps not run to suit. Goes up in trip for this and still an exciting prospect.

Form: 1

Al Boum Photo⁷³

Age: 5| Weight: 11-5| J: Paul Townend| T: W P Mullins| OR: 131

10/1

Easy winner at Thurles over 2m on second hurdles start, justifying odds-on favouritism. Hard to know what he achieved there and Walsh looks elsewhere now.

Form: F-311

Invitation Only¹⁰⁵

Age: 6| Weight: 11-5| J: Ruby Walsh| T: W P Mullins| OR: 140

11/10

Smart bumper performer last season and won on debut over jumps at Gowran Park in November at 2m. Subsequent Navan run behind Death Duty and Albert Bartlett runner-up Monalee reads well and champion jockey partners him.

Form: 1/1-113

Le Martalin^h,t⁹⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 11-5| J: B J Cooper| T: N Meade| OR: 134

16/1

Has some smart form in the book already over 2m this season, goes up in trip now and needs to bounce back after sub-par offering at Leopardstown in December.

Form: 4-1133

Livelovelaugh¹⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 11-5| J: D J Mullins| T: W P Mullins| OR: 139

7/1

Wide margin scorer at Thurles over this trip in February and far from disgraced in the Neptune at Cheltenham since. One to take seriously despite apparent snub from stable's leading riders.

Form: 143104

Minella Till Dawn²¹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-5| J: D N Russell| T: G Elliott| OR: 130

10/1

C&D maiden hurdle winner in December, perhaps not best suited by drop to 2m in Listed contest at Navan last month and can do better back up in trip.

Form: 1-213F

Runfordave¹⁶

Age: 5| Weight: 11-5| J: Jack Kennedy| T: G Elliott| OR: 142

13/2

Easy winner at Clonmel in February and nothing wrong with effort to be third in the Martin Pipe at Cheltenham since, big chance here if none the worse for that run.

Form: 1F3133

Stand Up And Fight⁸⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 11-5| J: J S McGarvey| T: E Bolger| OR: 130

25/1

Just the four starts behind him and should be capable of improved form, though needs something extra to warrant scoring in this contest.

Form: 2-13

Wishmoor^t²⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 11-5| J: M A Enright| T: M F Morris| OR: 127

50/1

Off the mark at the fifth time of asking over this trip at Leopardstown last month, requires another good jump forward however to have a say in the finish again.

Form: 353615-

Non-Runners

Ben Dundee⁴⁵

Weight: 11-5| Age: 5

T: A Lynch J: D F O'Regan

Forecasts

Invitation Only (11/10), Runfordave (13/2), Livelovelaugh (7/1), Any Second Now (7/1), Al Boum Photo (10/1), Minella Till Dawn (10/1), Le Martalin (16/1), Stand Up And Fight (25/1), Ben Dundee (33/1), Wishmoor (50/1)

Once again a race where the Mullins team are represented by strength in numbers. Invitation Only gets the nod from the champion jockey and his Navan third last time out looks to be good form. Al Boum Photo is also a very worthy contender here while Livelovelaugh might creep in under the radar given the jockey bookings despite an impressive performance at Thurles most recently. Despite weight of numbers in his favour the champion trainer may be thwarted as RUNFORDAVE ran a solid race at the Cheltenham Festival and should be capable of further improvement now. The previous Clonmel winner can get back on the gravy train this afternoon. Despite losing his unbeaten record last time, Any Second Now remains a promising sort and this longer trip ought to suit.