Punchestown Tips: Wednesday Day 2 Predictions & Latest Odds
It's time for the second day of the Punchestown Festival, with another excellent card to look forward to, beginning with the first race at 2:30pm.
Exclusive to Free Bets all week, I'm here to analyse the card and try to find some value.
Below, I've got my Punchestown tips for day two, and don't forget to check out the best Punchestown Festival free bets to make the most of today's card.
Punchestown Tips - Wednesday Day Two
With odds listed from betting sites for my selections, you can see how the market is shaping up, as well as what I fancy.
Punchestown 4:15pm - Fruit De Mer
In the three mile novice hurdle, I think the Henry de Bromhead trained Fruit De Mer can back up his excellent Cheltenham run with another good effort here.
He was second that day, despite still looking green in parts, and whatever he did then, I think he can at least do again, if not better.
Henry’s horses often run well in the spring, from Cheltenham to Punchestown is the time to be on them, and given this will be the horse’s fourth start of the year, he’s also much fresher than some of his close rivals.
With the hope of more to come, plus freshness on his side, I think he’s a horse that’s going to go close here.
- Recommendation: Fruit De Mer
Punchestown 4:50pm - Boycetown (EW)
I was a backer, and big believer in The Mourne Rambler at Cheltenham, and he received a peach of a ride from Colin Keane, who isn’t on board today.
Behind him, the staying on Boycetown caught the eye, and I think at the prices, with jockey bookings as they are here, he’s the better betting option as an each way alternative.
Just three lengths off the winner at Cheltenham, Boycetown was staying on better than most, and definitely as good as the winner that day.
Hopefully they make a bit more use of him, which will only help, and he can get a bit closer this time. He looks rock solid as a top three bet though, with strong form in the book.
- Recommendation: Boycetown (EW)
Punchestown 6:05pm - Fact To File (NAP)
We’ve got another instalment of the Fact To File vs Gaelic Warrior matchup in the Punchestown Gold Cup, and despite just five runners, four of them trained by Willie Mullins, I think it’ll be a cracker.
Gaelic Warrior was sublime in the Gold Cup and erased any doubts around the trip. But a Gold Cup can take a lot out of horses, and I do worry whether this being his fifth run, and coming after the Gold Cup, will prove a step too far.
For all that, Fact To File comes here fresh. He missed Cheltenham on account of the ground, has ran just three times so far this season, and in a race that puts together two very equally matched horses, I think it gives him enough of an edge.
Over a similar trip in February, Fact To File was five lengths ahead of Gaelic Warrior, over a shorter trip in November, Gaelic Warrior was a neck ahead of Fact To File.
It could be, and I hope it is, the race of the week. I’m in the Fact To File camp.
- Recommendation: Fact To File (NAP)
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