Irish Daily Star Chase (Grade 3)

Off time: 16:10 | Winning time: 6m 19.30s

Outlander^p¹⁷⁵

Age: 10| Weight: 11-10| J: Jack Kennedy| T: G Elliott| C

8/1

His only two wins since joining this stable for the 2016/17 season have come in Grade 1 races over 3m with give in the ground. He's hard to trust and the likely ground goes against him.

Form: 332PP8-

Ballycasey¹²⁶

Age: 11| Weight: 11-8| J: Ruby Walsh| T: W P Mullins

14/1

The old boy in this line-up at 11-years-old, he has generally come up shy in graded races in recent seasons and needs this return to a longer trip to bring about a chance in fortune. Likely does well to finish in the money.

Form: 35336-3

Sandymount Duke^p³

Age: 9| Weight: 11-0| J: R M Power| T: Mrs J Harrington| C| D

2/1

Played second fiddle behind Sub Lieutenant (beaten 7½L) at Galway Festival over 2m6½f. Doesn't appear to cry out for this stamina-sapping trip and essentially plenty to find with some of these rivals.

Form: 1150-02

Sub Lieutenant^t⁷³

Age: 9| Weight: 11-0| J: Rachael Blackmore| T: H De Bromhead

8/11

Held in the Galway Plate, then turned out quickly again at Ballybrit to defeat Sandymount Duke in lesser contest by 7½L. Off since, gets in on good terms here and has to enter calculations.

Form: 3454-51

Non-Runners

Road To Respect¹⁷⁵

Weight: 11-10| Age: 7

T: N Meade J: Sean Flanagan

Snow Falcon³⁵

Weight: 11-0| Age: 8

T: N Meade J: J M Moore

Forecasts

Sub Lieutenant (8/11), Sandymount Duke (2/1), Road To Respect (2/1), Snow Falcon (7/2), Outlander (8/1), Ballycasey (14/1)

The Noel Meade-trained ROAD TO RESPECT won this contest a year ago before going on to enjoy an excellent season in top-tier company. He won the big chase at Leopardstown over Christmas and finished a fine four in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Just seven-years-old, he is likely still on the upgrade and can land this again. Snow Falcon delivered in the Kerry National last time and needs serious respect as another with potentially more to come while Sub Lieutenant cannot be overlooked on these terms. Dual Grade 1 winner Outlander isn't getting any easier to predict and likely needs to see some more rain in the ground.