Saturday’s Racing Tips – Kargese can turn over the odds on Romeo Coolio at Leopardstown

Rizzel has left Cairnzy in charge of Saturday's racing. Rizz will return tomorrow evening with Sunday's card.

Firstly, I hope everyone is keeping well! Rizz was busy on Friday and kindly asked me to cover Saturday's card. Rizz already touched on it recently, but the ground staff have seemingly worked wonders at Leopardstown over the last few days, as we did have a lot of rain over in Ireland, and there were certainly doubts surrounding this year's DRF going ahead.

I was busy myself this evening, so I didn't have a whole lot of time to look through the card, but I have decided to concentrate on this year's Irish Arkle.

Kargese 7/4 – Leopardstown 14.55

This year's Irish Arkle is disappointing in terms of the turnout, with only three lining up and one of which is a 22/1 shot in Henry De Bromhead's Downmexicoway, who on paper should stand no chance against the remaining two runners in Romeo Coolio and Kargese.

The Gordon Elliot yard is flying this season, and I can understand why his charge in Romeo Coolio is as short as 8/15 to land this year's Irish Arkle, but I'm more than happy to take him on with the Willie Mullins-trained Kargese, who is no pushover herself and also receives 7lb from Romeo Coolio.

Firstly, Romeo Coolio is a class act, but I had concerns regarding the ground for him on Saturday, and on top of that, as much as he is effective over tomorrow's distance, I do feel he is a better horse over further.

That then left me with Kargese, who, despite having to find a bit on ratings, I still feel she has a cracking chance of upsetting the applecart over this distance if putting her best foot forward. I don't really see any pace angle in this race, and it could fairly well turn into a bit of a doddle and a sprint finish, which I think will set up nicely for Kargese, who has a better turn of foot in my opinion compared to Romeo Coolio.

I'll be interested to see what tactics Paul Townend opts for in this race, whether he will decide to make all or sit off Romeo Coolio in the hope his mount can pick up the pieces in the business end. My selection was last seen winning by 14L at this same course over the Christmas period. Kargese is still only a 6-year-old, and I think there's more to come from her.

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