Last week's Lucky 15 bets were decent. Saturday produced a profit with a winner and two runner-ups, and Sunday produced two winners, but sadly, one runner was a NR, so it turned into a Patent bet.
Advised: Each Way Lucky 15
Even though there are a couple of shorter-priced horses in this Lucky 15, the two that are at bigger prices make this better as an each-way Lucky 15.
Himalayan Heights 7/2 (5pl) – Curragh 2.30
Obviously, winning a handicap of this size will not be easy, and there will be many hard-luck stories; hopefully, Himalayan Heights will not be one of them.
Ger Lyons and Colin Keane are absolutely flying at the moment and this horse has always had the ability to win races like this. and he had a nice return to action when winning another competitive big field handicap at Leopardstown last time out. He managed to win with ease off a mark of 85, so today's higher mark will make life tougher for him, but he won it like a classy horse and one who should be able to shoulder the rise.
Serialise 12/1 (5pl) – Curragh 4.15
Serialise had some good form in handicaps last year, notably the third-placed effort at Leopardstown at the back end of the season. The form of that race looks solid, with Snellen in second and the winner since proving herself at Class 1 level the other week.
She didn't get the best of runs in that race; she was wide and then had to try and come through the pack, but overall, it was a solid performance in a very similar quality handicap as to today's, if not this is weaker.
She had a recent run over 7f last time out, where she was also finishing in third, but evidently needed the run and wasn't the pick of the stable jockey that day. Today, Shane Foley is back onboard and she is back up to a mile, which looks to suit.
Penny Mountain 20/1 (5pl) – Curragh 4.50
In another tricky handicap, I thought Penny Mountain was worth a shot at the bottom of the weights on stable debut for Anthony Mullins.
This horse has only run three times and is making her handicap debut in a decent pot, so that shows the confidence from Anthony Mullins, who has only acquired her recently. She was slow out of the gates over 6f at the Curragh last time out, but started to power home, but sadly the line came too early.
She is going back up to 7f today, which looks to suit based on her running style and pedigree. She is running off a mark of 68, which is 10lbs lower than what the Racing Post rated her performance last time out, so she could be very well handicapped, and a repeat performance, if breaking on terms, could be enough to win this, but I'd say even further progression is likely as it was her first start in 168 days when running in March.
Shameful 2/1 (3pl) – Curragh 5.25
It's strange to see Shameful making the trip over to the Curragh for his handicap debut, especially in a handicap which is worth 17,700 Euros, but it has definitely caught my eye.
Clive Cox doesn't send too many runners to Ireland, and even though his strike rate isn't great, the booking of Colin Keane suggests a big run is on the cards.
Shameful was battered on seasonal reappearance when he was sent off as the odds-on favourite, but in hindsight, he was beaten by a useful horse. The horse who beat him then finished second in a Listed race, with the winner now running in the Irish Guineas today, so it wasn't anything to be ashamed of by losing to that horse.
GambleAware