Tuesday's selection was horrible, to say the least. He wasn't positioned great, and was switched multiple times, but he never looked like winning so you can't really complain too much with the ride.
Honesty Policy 9/4 – Punchestown 4.15
Yet again, Punchestown looks ridiculously hard to get stuck into, mainly the handicaps, but I do think Honesty Policy was worth a go against the recent Albert Bartlett winner.
Jasmin De Vaux will take some beating if he is fine with the quicker conditions, and his jumping holds up as he can be sticky over hurdles, but with that doubt looming, I did think the recent Grade 1 winner from Aintree was a worthy opponent.
On all known form, Honesty Policy does have a few pounds of improvement to make up to beat the favourite, but I did like the way he won at Aintree. He was held up over 2m 4f and looked in a bit of trouble during stages of the race, but when Mark Walsh got him in the clear, he did pick up nicely and stayed on powerfully to the line. The fact that he was a strong finisher at a galloping track like Aintree, which is deceiving in terms of stamina, gives me plenty of hope that the further step up to 3m will be what the doctor ordered.
We also know that he handles quick ground, as the win at Aintree was on good ground.
Must Be Obeyed 12/1 EW (4pl) – Punchestown 6.05
I think this is one of the least competitive handicaps of the weak so far, so I've decided to have a play with one of the horses towards the bottom of the weights.
Lets Go Champ won this race last year, but that horse is now running off a much higher weight and isn't in tremendous form. The horse who finished behind him in that race was Must Be Obeyed, and even though he is out of form, I thought he has been aimed at this race for quite a while.
Thomas Gibney is a good trainer with the horses he has, but he hasn't had the best of seasons. But he did win this race in 2014 with an older horse like Must Be Obeyed, and that horse back in 2014 ran in the same race the year before, so it's something he's done before where his horse has run in the race and then won the year after.
Must Be Obeyed wasn't in great form coming into this race last year but was supported in the market, so his recent form doesn't put me off. His best form in terms of Racing Post Ratings has come on soft/heavy ground, but he has run many good races on quicker ground, so I have no concerns over the going.
GambleAware