Hi all,
Franklin Street (4/1) handled the testing ground very well at Listowel on Monday to register a ‘gutsy’ win.
It’s day three of the Listowel Festival and it’s the NH horses who take centre stage, well the hurdlers do. The ground will probably ease a bit further today.
Listowel
3:35 – Top-weight Gardens Of Babylon is the class horse of the race. The 4-year-old struggled in the Galway Hurdle but was a smart juvenile hurdler who finished third in the Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival before winning a novice hurdle at Punchestown. He’s yet to race on soft ground, seemed to handle it on his 2-year-old debut, and will probably need further than two miles this season. Owner J P McManus has three of the first four in the betting. Besides Garden’s Of Babylon he also has Top Moon and Morosini who are contenders. But with Hugh Morgan taking off 7lb I’m hoping that class will tell.
Gardens Of Babylon – 6/1 @ William Hill
4:05 – Drop The Anchor was an impressive winner of a bumper on similar ground here 12 months ago and seemed set for a good hurdling career. Things didn’t quite pan out as connections would have hoped. The 5-year-old was well fancied (8/1) for a valuable handicap hurdle at the Punchestown Festival but didn’t jump well enough and could never get competitive. Unlike the previous selection the more rain the better for Drop the Anchor. Returns from a 131-day break but won last year off a similar lay off. A mark of 115 looks workable if his jumping has improved and he’s got a good chance of getting into the money here if it has.
Drop The Anchor – 12/1 @ Paddy Power & William Hill – each way (both paying 4 places ¼ odds)
Cheers
John