Racing tips: Il Etait Temps looks a cracking bet w/o Vauban

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Punchestown has been good to me this week, landing plenty of winners, but yesterday was frustrating as Vaucelet should've beat Billaway. He jumped the best up until the final flight where he ran through the fence and lost all momentum, leaving himself with a lot to do up the run in. He did run on again, but ran out of track. Despite that, we had a win in the shape of State Man who was immense. He looks like the real deal, whether or not he's good enough to mix it at the Champion Hurdle table, I'm not so sure, but he's a quality operator and there's no doubting that.

Punchestown 3:10

This looks like a competitive handicap, like most of them have been this week at Punchestown, but I only fancied a couple in this to run well. My selection in the race is REGINA DRACONES who ticks a lot of boxes in this contest.

Carrying a low weight is a big advantage in this race with 7 of the last 10 winners carrying 10st 7lbs or less, which the selection does when you take the rider's 5lb claim into consideration, which leaves him on 10st 5lbs. He is a a progressive looking horse, who is only 7 years of age so has plenty of improvement to come. The trip is an unknown, but the way he has ran well in the past over 3m and 3m 1f suggests this trip is worth a try. Plenty of horses who have won this race have benefited from positive rides, so the fact this mare likes to sit handy is a big benefit. Punchestown has been a front runners paradise this week, and I envisage that it will be tough for horses to make up the ground in this, so sitting close to the pace will be a plus. The ground is going to quicker than what might appear to be ideal, but she is a horse going the right way and has ran well on yielding before, so I don't think it will be a massive issue.

Punchestown 5:00

I tipped up IL ETAIT TEMPS at the Cheltenham Festival in the Triumph Hurdle which was won by Vauban. I thought he ran a blinder to finish 5th in that race when you consider he yanked Danny Mullins' arms out for at least 75% of the race, so the fact she stayed up the hill shows what an engine he has. This race is always going to be a tough one to take on Vauban who convincingly wont he Triumph, but I think this lad is worth betting in the w/o fav market. There isn't a lot of projected pace in this, so it wouldn't be a surprise to see Danny Mullins make use of this lads freeness and let him stride on. Like I mentioned before, this course has benefited front runners, so I'm hoping Danny takes the initiative and decides to get the lead instead of fighting a losing battle of trying to let this horse settle. Danny is a wonderful front running jockey, like we saw on Flooring Porter two years in a row at Cheltenham, so finger's crossed he employs those tactics. I don't think it's out of the ordinary to see him finishing second to the fav, and coming in front of Fil Dor who is 146 rated. I seriously think Il Etait Temps is a talented horse and shouldn't be overlooked in this.

Thirsk 2:05

DELGREY BOY was a tip by me last weekend at Haydock where I thought he would've won if he had a proper jockey onboard rather than the 5lb claimer who struggled to control him. He's back out today in another competitive handicap, but this time at Thirsk, which is a track he has won over C&D before. Similar comments apply to him today from last weeks race, and I'm backing him for the same reasons. I think he's on a winning handicap mark, and he is a horse who will progress further throughout this season despite being a 5yo, which is something which has happened with his family. Duran Fentiman takes the ride this time which is a positive, even though he won't be getting 5lb off I think he will have a better chance now he has a fully fledged professional in the saddle. He's being overlooked in the market again, and is a cracking EW bet in my opinion.

Newmarket 1:50

Though the ground is described as ‘good', the times yesterday at Newmarket wasn't exactly the quickest, so I think it could be worth siding with a horse who will have stamina at the trip. The more I look at him, the more I like PERSUASION, now trained by David & Nicola Barron.

This horse has been campaigned as a 7f horse for most of his career, apart from his one race over 1m which was in the 2000 Guineas in 2020. Though he has won on a couple of occasions over 7f, I think he will be best suited to a fast run 6f, which is something he should get today. I get the same vibes for this horse as a lot of David Barron trained runners, who improve through the handicap through fast run sprint races, after being held up and then coming with a strong run late in the race (Venturous and Zarzyni are a couple to name, also owned by the same owner of Persuasion).

It's interesting that connections have decided to race at Newmarket for this horse's stable debut, as they could have remained up north and found an easier assignment, so the fact they've targeted this race on Guineas weekend is interesting. One thing to note is that he is drawn near the pace so if they do split into groups, he should be carried into the race by the pace.

Newmarket 2:25

FAST MEDICINE has drifted to a nice price this morning and I think that makes him a play in this. He's markedly going up in grade, which is always a concern for a horse who has done his winning against lesser opposition to then being placed against some good handicappers, but at the bottom of the weights I think he will run very well.

The horses to the top of the weights are nice looking horses but have relatively big absences to defy, and they've both clearly had problems so I think they will be better for this run, especially Dahabi who hasn't been seen since 2020. Fast Medicine won a Nottingham Class 4 race, but his turn of foot was very eye-catching that day, and I think that could be key in this, as he will be able to show a real change of gears with him shouldering 8st 2lbs. He has raced at Newmarket before, but that was on his second start where he got unbalanced in the dip, but with much more experience and the fact he's getting better with age as he's maturing I think he is worth another go at this course. He is 6lbs well in with the 5lb penalty he carries as the handicapper has him going up to a mark of 90 next week, so this looks a nice opportunity to plunder a big prize whilst he is as well handicapped as he is.

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