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Saturday's Lucky 15 bet produced two winning selections and two losing selections, resulting in a small profit based on a £1 straight win bet.
It could have been a much better day, with one of my selections hitting the crossbar to finish second, and of course, the big talking point of Saturday with Constitution Hill falling again. I took the risk in backing Constitution Hill, and it came back to bite me again. It's such a shame that his career has plummeted as it has, because on his day, he was a top-notch animal.
There are plenty of factors surrounding his downfall, the jockey in Nico and of course, his confidence being shot due to prior falls. I think it's a combination of both, but the horse clearly no longer respects obstacles, and I will be surprised if we don't see an announcement of his retirement very soon. The horse's welfare has to be a priority in this instance, and I think the time has come to take him away from the sport.
Gold Dancer 9/2 – Fairyhouse 2.05
Although my selection has a bit to find with Romeo Coolio, I think at the prices he is worth a punt to hopefully upset the applecart.
Gold Dancer has started to hit a bit of form, winning three on the bounce since May. My selection beat stablemate Westport Cove during this year's Galway festival. The victory over Westport Cove reads particularly well now, with that one having won his last two races, a Grade 3 at Roscommon and, most recently, a Grade 2 at Punchestown. This will require a personal best, but I wouldn't rule out further progress from Gold Dancer, who is only now starting to repay his expensive price tag.
Teahupoo 11/10 – Fairyhouse 2.36
The top two in the market have race fitness to prove, but are clearly the class acts in this small runner affair, and I'll be surprised if the winner of this race doesn't come from the pair of them.
I've opted to take the favourite in this race in the Gordon Elliot-trained Teahupoo, who aims to add his name to the list of winning this race three times. My selection won this contest in 2022 and 2023 before finding the Willie Mullins-trained Lossiemouth a step too far last year. There is no shame in defeat to Lossiemouth, and thankfully, he doesn't have her to contend with this time around. With that said, he does have Ballyburn to deal with this time around, and on his day, Ballyburn is a top class operator. Ballyburn flopped quite badly in the Brown Advisory at Cheltenham but did run a good race last time out at Punchestown when finishing second.
It should be a good match-up, but the form of the Elliot yard was the factor when it came to choosing between the two, and I think he will have Teahupoo ready to fire after a break.
John Barbour 11/4 – Leicester 2.25
One horse that I really like the look of on Sunday is the F O'Brien-trained John Barbour.
My selection had been running in two-mile races earlier in his career without much joy, but the step up in trip last time out clearly eased out improvement from my selection as he travelled like the winner for the entire way. I thought that was a rather impressive display and he should give another good account of himself this time around, despite this being a bit more competitive to the race he won last time out.
The Burren Man 5/4 – Carlisle 1.15
My final selection for Sunday's Lucky 15 bet is The Burren Man for trainer Harry Derham and jockey Brendan Powell.
I've noticed that Rizz has tipped up this horse already on the main thread, and to save myself the hassle of rewriting a brief write-up, I've copied his below.
Rizzel's write-up on The Burren Man from the main thread –
I'm not sure why Paul O'Brien hasn't got a ride till next Wednesday, but there's obviously a reason, as he would definitely be up for the ride on The Burren Man.
Brendan Powell has been the man to get the call-up, and given that this is his sole ride of the day at Carlisle, it's a positive.
Brendan is based with Joe Tizzard down in Somerset, so taking this huge trek up to Carlisle must mean he's been promised to be on a rocket.
Harry Derham is very shrewd with his long-distance runners, and in a race which doesn't look fantastic, he is the one to beat at short odds.
GambleAware