Monday's racing as expected is grim regarding quality, but given the weather remains okay we will at least have a few meetings to choose from between jumps and flat.
I've opted to have a selection at the jumps meeting from Warwick on Monday but have also decided to have a punt in the meeting at Kempton.
Cairnzy's Tips
Leader In The Park 11/8 – Warwick 1.35
My first selection on Monday comes from the jumps meeting at Warwick in the shape of Ben Paulings Leader In The Park.
Ben Paulings lightly raced seven year old was an expensive purchase for the yard, and a quarter of a million was the price tag forked out on the back of a 56L demolition job on debut back in February of 2023. The horse has a long way to go before repaying the hefty price tag on his head but he looks to be going the right way on the back of his comfortable victory at Kempton on Boxing Day when getting the better of Dan Skeltons Asta La Pasta.
I partially remember the Boxing Day contest mentioned above as I had a small wager on the Paul Nicholls trained Fire Flyer in that race who jockey Harry Cobden eventually pulled up. I wanted to refresh my memory on how Leader In The Park performed and after watching a quick replay I was pleased to see he jumped extremely well throughout most of the race and seemingly had a fair bit up his sleeve towards the line. My selection has been raised 4lb for that effort which I thought underestimated Leader In The Parks potential going forward and I expected the handicapper to be a bit more harsh, so with that said, a 4lb rise could be potentially lenient.
McCauley's Tavern 11/4 – Kempton 4.15
I thought McCauley's Tavern was potentially a good bet in this race and the current odds of 11/4 seemed attractive enough to have a small wager in what looks an open looking affair.
My selections form for the most part has been off the boil but a recent second at this course last week suggested a possible bounce back to form for Mick Applebys runner. McCauley's Tavern has been around a few trainers during his career. He started off in Ireland for J A Stack before switching hands to Mark Loughnane in March of 2023. My selection enjoyed some success under Loughnanes guidance, winning twice under young Billy Loughnane, and remained somewhat competitive off higher marks than the 58 he runs over in this contest.
My selection switched hands to Mick Apple in October of last year and showed very little in his first few outings for the yard but a last time out second which I've already mentioned, suggests that he could be ready to take advantage of a lowly mark. Mick has booked young Billy Loughnane for the ride which is a massive plus given McCauley's Taverns last wins have both come with Billy on board, and he will surely know the horse well from his time when trained by his father.
