0:06

Welcome to and a tremendously busy week

0:08

on the from the horses mouth podcast feed

0:10

because punch time festival is upon us and

0:12

I've got Rory's largan I've got Ruby Walsh

0:14

looking head to the first day before we

0:16

crack into it a reminder a really, really

0:18

excellent show is available to watch on the

0:20

Paddypair racing YouTube channel Patrick Mullins Ruby Walsh

0:23

going through what I must say I forgot

0:25

how many good winners Patrick had written at

0:27

that particular festival when he needed to dig

0:29

it out for his dad in the champion

0:31

trainer title the Irish one a few seasons

0:33

ago really good watch and available and all

0:35

Also, daily shows, as you can probably tell, for

0:37

the festival. A quick check in with the lads, Roy

0:40

DeLarge. How are you? Grands, all

0:42

together. Where are you? I'm

0:44

at the Aerolingis Lounge at

0:46

Heathrow Terminal 2, within

0:48

the capture flight, Dublin.

0:52

Are we under time pressure then? Do we need

0:54

to be finished in the next 20 minutes?

0:56

Is that it? No, I got myself here early,

0:58

so I could take full advantage of the

1:00

lounge facilities. Is there anything sweeter than an airport

1:02

point? I don't see a point in front

1:04

of you. No, no. Just

1:06

an annoyance juice. Very

1:10

good, PK.

1:12

Excellent. Thank you very much. Congratulations to

1:14

the team. After the big

1:17

win on Saturday, you were

1:19

watching from Navin. Did it feel a little bit like you

1:21

were away from the party or are you okay? No,

1:23

PK. Too many chefs by the pot

1:25

when the pressure's on, so no, the work

1:27

was done. Excellent stuff. Excellent stuff.

1:29

Well, well done, Turbin and the team. Great to

1:31

see Gronje was over there and enjoying it.

1:33

Well deserved. Right, lads, let's crack on. Punches Town

1:35

Day 1. We are not going to talk

1:37

about the farmers race. But if you find the

1:39

winner, well done. That's the 230. But

1:42

we are going to talk. Actually, I wasn't on

1:44

the running order, the 305. I did ask the guys.

1:46

Okay, why are you talking about the farmers race?

1:48

It's on Friday. Oh, sure. Yeah,

1:50

that's not the farmers race.

1:52

It's not the farmers race. It's 230. I'm looking

1:54

at. No, that's the lilies preparation. Oh,

1:56

the banks race. already

1:58

got it wrong already didn't take me long

2:00

the lads didn't take me long but didn't

2:02

take ruby long to interrupt first banks race of

2:05

the festival starts at 230 folks the farmers

2:07

race not to frighten the for the bishops court

2:09

cup but we will talk about the albert

2:11

Bartlett series handicap final and not the albert Bartlett

2:13

grade one series and that's the 305 rory

2:15

nice and quick here because you did say do

2:17

you know what actually kind of fancy one

2:19

of this and we've got extra places Yeah, it's

2:21

not easy for us back home to find

2:23

out what's on RTE in the first place, but

2:26

I had a look at the

2:28

The Albert Bartlett Crimes series final

2:30

and I liked the chances of

2:32

one of the English raiders, Blue

2:34

Hop for Ben Brookhouse. He's

2:36

booked Richard Blackmore to ride this

2:38

soldier of fortune who's always had

2:40

plenty of talent, but he's been

2:43

He's spent a fair bit of time on the sidelines,

2:45

but he's really got his eye together this season.

2:47

He's put five runs together, which he struggled to do

2:49

in the past, and he's got better with each

2:51

one of them. He's won two of his last three,

2:53

and to be honest, he won at least as

2:55

well in between when finishing second in a red -hot

2:57

handicap at ASCA, the Stone Ups future winners. That

3:00

was over almost three miles. His win at

3:02

Doncaster was over three miles, but he didn't look

3:04

at all short of speed over two mile

3:06

five, or whether we last time went when he

3:08

won very easily. From lesser

3:10

opposition, it must be said, but I thought the

3:12

handicapper could have put him up more than

3:14

he has. He's gone up from 116 to 121

3:16

for that. I think that's very,

3:18

very fair indeed. And I think he comes here

3:20

at the top of his game, and he will

3:22

go very well for Ben and Roger Berkes. And

3:25

I see Paddy Perr, Ambassador Harry Cobbton

3:27

has picked up a spare ride on

3:29

that race on Bright Legend for Dennis

3:31

Hogan. So his plea to everyone to

3:33

say, I'm around, I'm available, it's

3:35

worked. He's got a ride in the first

3:37

non -banks race at the festival, right onto

3:39

the 340. Another extra place to race.

3:41

Ruby, you're coming in here. Five places instead of

3:44

the four. Lark in the morning. Favourite,

3:46

it's a listed race to kill a

3:48

sheet of handicap hurdle. But realistically, this is

3:50

kind of like your county handicap hurdle

3:52

at Punchdown. It's red hot. Loads of Chelten

3:54

Festival form, Ancient Festival form, and loads

3:56

of British runners as well. Yeah, PKM, without

3:58

the British runners, you wouldn't even have

4:00

each betting on the first four here. Only

4:03

17 runners, a mark of 121 gets

4:05

in, so contrary to the myth. that the

4:07

top horses are running Irish racing, the

4:09

supplier horses from the middle to the bottom

4:11

is not in great shape either. And

4:14

it's a big concern, you look at

4:16

the rest of race, they can't fill and

4:18

wouldn't have each web betting for four

4:20

places without the English runners. I think that's

4:22

alarm bells myself. As regards the

4:24

winner of the race, which is much more important to

4:26

our listeners, I think Larkin

4:28

the Morning myself, obviously disappointed in Sheldon in the

4:30

County Hurdle. That said, was only beaten nine entry

4:32

parts of the length. It wasn't beaten a country

4:34

mile. I do think he's on a mark. He's

4:36

more than capable of winning a good race off.

4:38

And Sean and Bernadine Mulroney love a winner. I'll

4:40

punch us up. No, who doesn't? But yes, they

4:43

do indeed. Larkin the Morning goes in for Ruby.

4:45

Rory? Going yielding this off at the moment officially

4:47

from what I've seen, but it's going to be

4:49

trying out, isn't it? We're going to be going

4:51

to be good to yielding by the time we

4:53

kick off here. I would have thought that's a

4:55

question rather than a statement. Ruby,

4:57

would you agree? Not far from the track. It's

5:00

been well watered, Rory. It'll be

5:02

on the slow side. They've a lot of

5:04

water put on this track in the March, early

5:06

April. They've kept the moisture deep at the

5:08

ground. So when the rain came then in mid

5:10

-April, it just topped it up nicely and they've

5:12

been added since. So no, it will be

5:14

on the slow side. There's no doubt about that.

5:17

I know he's one arm, obviously in the softer

5:19

grind, but Larkin the mornings always had this reputation

5:21

of being a horse who wants it fairly quick. I

5:24

was with him in the in the county hurdle,

5:26

which was a really messy race. As

5:29

you said, he finished 14th, was only beaten nine

5:31

and a half lengths. An

5:33

Irish panther ran there as well and finished a tenth,

5:35

beating seven lengths. I thought he ran okay. I

5:37

thought a lot of horses ran okay and that race

5:39

was just in there. in the wrong position the way

5:41

it panned out. I was

5:43

sweet on Irish panther in his previous

5:45

start at the Dublin Racing Festival when

5:47

he was a very good third in

5:49

the Liffey handicap, but a similar race

5:51

to this. And I think his

5:53

run style again will enable him to get involved

5:55

here. He'll be a double figure prize with Cain Cullinan

5:57

riding again. I don't think

5:59

Irish panther from in each way, there's plenty you can give

6:01

a chance to here, but from an each way perspective,

6:03

I think Irish panther will again get my vote. Absolutely.

6:06

And as I said, we've got five

6:08

places on that big handicap hurdle. Irish

6:10

Panther, Frank Kiki, are you listening? He's

6:12

always had a soft spot for that

6:14

horse. Onto the first of the

6:16

grade ones, the novice hurdle will get things

6:18

underway for grade one. Backers and fans, Copic

6:20

to board, tops the market, known certain terms,

6:22

two to five, favorite with Paul Book. Salvador

6:24

Mundi. is 3 -1. Patrick gets the ride

6:26

there. Iran C is 7 -1 for Mark Walsh.

6:28

Willie also has Carabout, 16 -1, and Gordon

6:30

Elliott and Jim Bulger with a couple of

6:32

triple figure price horses. So I guess, Ruby,

6:35

I'm going to have to bring you straight

6:37

back in, copy to board, since Chattelham all

6:39

been A -1. That is P .K. and there's

6:41

no reason to believe that he won't actually

6:43

have improved for his run at Cheltenham. When

6:45

you look at his jump and how much

6:47

it improved from Christmas to the DRF and

6:49

it was better again at Cheltenham. He's been

6:51

in great form at home. I have no

6:53

worries about the track, the direction, anything like

6:55

that for him. He seems to be in

6:57

really good order. I do accept Salvatore Mundi

6:59

improved hugely from Cheltenham to entry, but I

7:01

think this is another level again and I

7:03

do think Colpeg de Mordel will be really

7:05

difficult to beat. Will Salvatore follow him home,

7:07

you think? He's the most likely one, yeah.

7:09

Okay, all right. So the market has a

7:11

right according to Ruby. Rory? Yeah, I

7:13

can't disagree with any of that. I do

7:15

think Salvatore Monday will finish a lot closer

7:17

than he did. But again, as Ruby says,

7:20

Kobe to board just seems to be a

7:22

horse who's just beginning to come to himself

7:24

now. It's not like he was in a

7:26

really good early season. Obviously, you're hoping we'll

7:28

stretch to the end of the year. He

7:31

was transformed, current

7:33

year, in February at Leopardstown.

7:35

Did it very nicely. in

7:37

a good race at Cheltenham and should

7:39

do it again. I can see Salvatore

7:41

Mande finishing. I mean, how far was

7:43

he beating 18 lengths at Cheltenham? I

7:45

can see him finishing within five, but

7:48

I don't see him beating Copic to

7:50

board on this Copic to board. Fluffs

7:53

his lines and I see no obvious

7:55

reason for that. So there's not much of

7:57

an angle here. You've got a two

7:59

to five favourite, a three to one second

8:01

favourite, but they really should finish first

8:03

and second in that order. All right. straight

8:05

forecast easy peasy lads in the first

8:07

of the grade one second is the duly

8:09

insurance group champion novice chase over three

8:11

miles in a furlong and we've got the

8:13

the chalem victor lecky watson but

8:15

he's not favourite. Ballyburn is 11

8:17

-8 favourite with Paul Towne in

8:19

books. 94 Lecky Watson and Perry

8:21

Pass is 9 -2. Gorgeous Tom 10s

8:23

and 12 -1 Slade Steel and

8:25

Stellar Story. Rory, you can

8:27

go first here. I suppose casual racing fans

8:29

who may be tuned in for Cheltenham

8:31

and only Cheltenham will be going, why is

8:34

Lecky Watson a bigger price than Ballyburn? Indeed.

8:38

And it's not a bad question, to be

8:40

perfectly honest. I'm going to

8:42

start with Lecky Watson here, but I think he might even drift

8:44

further than he is at the moment. What

8:46

are the prices currently? So 11 -way, probably we're

8:48

in 9 -4 Lecky Watson at the moment. And

8:50

we're recording, by the way, I should times

8:52

that, Monday at noon. Lecky Watson

8:54

I think is more likely to start 4 -1 than he

8:56

is 9 -4. I think people will

8:58

generally be against him. I

9:01

see time for him to take the view

9:03

that he was flattered by a test

9:05

of speed in the in

9:07

the broad way at Cheltenham last time.

9:09

I've got no issue with him staying

9:11

at all. I think the big difference

9:13

between Lecky Watson this year and Lecky

9:15

Watson last year is that fences have

9:17

enabled him to settle, or just being

9:19

a little bit older, have enabled him

9:22

to settle. He used to wear a

9:24

hood all the time. He used to

9:26

pull very hard and still run good

9:28

races against the best around. Now he

9:30

doesn't pull. He's very tractable. As a

9:32

rule, he jumps very well. And

9:34

I don't think the trip is an issue at

9:36

all. I know most of his former events has been

9:38

over shorter, but I think a test of stamina

9:41

over three miles will suit him better than most in

9:43

this field. Yes, if Barry

9:45

Byrne comes back to the form he

9:47

showed when winning at the DRF, he'll

9:49

be hard enough to beat, but he

9:51

still needs to prove that stamina for

9:53

beyond three miles. I know he's bred

9:55

for it, but he is a free

9:57

goer and he doesn't save himself much

9:59

in that regard. He has looked brilliant

10:01

at his best and I do fear

10:03

him, but I've always liked

10:05

Leckie Watson, I'm not going to dissert him

10:07

now. What

10:33

do you think? It probably has PK and I

10:35

was in the race that I could come down

10:37

with on any one side. Definitely.

10:39

I think Imperial Past improved for the application

10:41

of cheekpieces at entry, thought he jumped

10:43

and travelled much better than he had done

10:45

in the past. Lucky Watson seems to

10:47

be fulfilling the potential that Rory always thought

10:49

he had and he most certainly is

10:51

a better chaser than he was hardler and

10:54

has mentally grown up a lot. But

10:56

I do think a lot of things went

10:58

against Ballet -Burn and Cheltenham. Look,

11:00

I can see why Paul Townan did. ride him

11:02

the way he rode him. Arguably

11:04

on paper, he was the fastest horse in the

11:06

race and he rode him for speed, but there went

11:08

no gallop. It completely backfired. He was too free.

11:10

He never got jumping. And I

11:12

think on the different tactics, at least

11:14

we'll find out tomorrow what he

11:16

is. And I wouldn't decide with

11:18

him, but I didn't come down strong

11:21

in any one of the trade from

11:23

a betting point of view. They're all in

11:25

good form and it'll be a good

11:27

horse race. Yeah, really, really good renewal

11:29

of that grade one novice chase over the

11:31

three miles, one furlong. So Ruby, very

11:33

ish on Ballyburn, but Lucky Watson for

11:35

Rory. 525 at this is the

11:37

big goffs or the Land Rover bumper, no

11:39

form, obviously, on show. So I'm going to

11:42

go to you, Ruby, because I'm assuming... Well,

11:44

there's actually interestingly a few British runners, including

11:46

Nikki Henderson with Laguna Beach, but Willie's got

11:48

leader day board in the Jiggenstown Silks of

11:50

Patrick Ride. So that's an obvious starting point.

11:52

Yeah, look, he's first time up, a horse

11:54

by Tunis who goes reasonably well. Look, PK,

11:56

we didn't know which was the best of

11:59

them going to the fairy house sales race

12:01

and it's hard to know which is the

12:03

best of them. This way too, often the

12:05

one that's showing the speed at home when

12:07

he gets to the race course isn't the

12:09

best one. It's the one that actually grows,

12:11

rises to the occasion and the competitive environment

12:13

brings out ability that you haven't seen at

12:16

home. Now, plenty of these have had runs. Martin

12:19

Brazos was fifth in a bumper at Limerick behind

12:21

Light Up the Dark, a couple of point -to -point

12:23

winners in it, Santos, Saspir, won a bumper for

12:25

Garden, a punch of stand as well, and they

12:27

run here with no penalties. Reckless

12:30

was fourth in a bumper, if you

12:32

believe, won a point -to -point so too,

12:34

the green style and green hint. So

12:36

look, there's some little snippets of form here,

12:38

and I took the hint from Stephen O

12:40

'Connor going for green hint. He

12:42

rides all the Stuart Crawford horses, Simon,

12:44

Manir, and Isaac, so I'd have three in here,

12:46

and he's gone with green hint. I

12:48

narrowed it down to him. All right.

12:51

Okay. Green hint. In the double green,

12:53

seemingly the first colours indeed as well for

12:55

Sture Crawford's got three in it. I'm

12:57

just assuming a pass here from you, Rory.

12:59

It's a token throw to you. Yeah. Again,

13:02

if I had to put my opinion

13:04

on the line, it would be take

13:06

a good look at the three Crawford

13:08

runners. If you can't look

13:10

at all three of them, then the one that

13:12

appears to be the first train appears to be

13:14

Green Hint. Sture Crawford runner, really nice prospect in

13:16

that There's

13:18

a sales bumper at Newbury last month

13:21

and he unleashed one there who looked

13:23

very good. If he considers

13:25

one of these to be better than that,

13:27

well, they'd have to be fairly decent. So

13:29

very much respect the chances of all the

13:31

Crawford runners here, but the jockey booking suggests

13:33

that Greenhint is the one to be with,

13:35

but I am very much shooting in the

13:37

dark here. Okay, we all are. to be

13:39

fair in that in that race that that

13:41

Land Rover, the goth said defender. Sorry, it's

13:43

not Land Rover anymore. You have to upgrade

13:45

to a defender. I don't know which is

13:47

better, Land Rover or defender. But they keep

13:50

an eye out for the double green, triple

13:52

green, double green producer. I'm sorry, I didn't

13:54

say triple green for the double green. But

13:56

you're right, I should have. That's

13:58

green hint. Take the hint

14:00

potentially. Really difficult race. We're going to

14:02

go money back of your second or third in that

14:04

and the banks race in the shops. If you do

14:06

want to check that out, pop in, we're going to

14:08

have great fun in the shops. Right, that is the

14:10

or by the way, So, when you pop in the

14:12

racing post over in Oblity, it doesn't tell you what

14:14

the Ortie races are, because I just said to lads,

14:17

we'll cover the Ortie races. I'm

14:19

looking at Timeform, which tells you which of

14:21

the UK channels. Good stuff. Timeform puts on

14:23

racing TV and where there's an ITV. Part

14:25

of the Flutter family, should probably start using

14:27

Timeform a little bit more. I apologize, Dan,

14:29

Barbara and Co. But yeah, on the RT,

14:31

on the racing puzzle telly, which is on

14:33

the RT anyway. Well, as

14:35

we kick off with some interesting racing,

14:37

and we're going to try and find the

14:40

best bet here on day one, Ruby.

14:42

i think we should talk about the championships

14:44

before we have the best bet i'm

14:46

having an absolute shocker i'm having an absolute

14:48

shocker profile versus marine national i would

14:50

have thought it was the highlight of the

14:52

day but obviously um you don't rate

14:54

the race at all pk um but anyway

14:56

i don't know rory i think it's

14:58

an absolutely compelling contest ryan air winner dropping

15:00

back down to two miles not the

15:02

first one to try it uh vittor alaho

15:04

i've all had a go um weren't

15:06

successful it'll be interesting to see how fact

15:08

of all gets on I just think

15:10

the nature of the contest, I

15:12

do think the fact that Marine National

15:14

will most likely follow Factorphile actually

15:17

gives Factorphile an advantage here and being

15:19

able to get on his feet

15:21

early in the race, build through it

15:23

and then drag the speed out

15:25

of Marine National. So I think Factorphile

15:27

can succeed where others have failed.

15:29

Right, you're next. I would

15:31

go the other way with this. I

15:35

think probably the sexiest

15:37

horses over fences are the two and

15:39

a half minors. The

15:41

very best of the horses. I

15:43

think the races that stir the blood

15:45

most, I know you think sometimes

15:47

about great clashes in the gold cup, but the

15:49

gold cup can end up being a bit

15:51

of a gut wrencher. Whereas the horses that I

15:53

saw as a youngster over fences, the ones

15:55

who really excited me were essentially the two and

15:58

a half minors. You tend to put them

16:00

on a little bit of a pedestal, but they

16:02

do tend to be vulnerable dropping back to two

16:04

miles. And I thought the

16:06

same here. My immediate reaction here was

16:08

the fact of file, you know, who's being

16:10

successful at three, you know, and was

16:13

considered to be a gold cup horse until

16:15

very recently. I thought the drop

16:17

back to two would be would be a negative

16:19

for him. And I

16:21

mean, listen, you can, you can knock the

16:23

champion chairs for us. There's no doubt about that.

16:25

He's won by a long way, Marine National,

16:27

where the race fell apart around him. It would

16:29

have been interesting to see what would have

16:31

happened if Calixios had stayed in his feet. But

16:34

Marine National won it very well in the

16:36

end. He's getting his act together. My concern

16:38

with him going into Cheltenham was that for

16:40

all the promises shown over the last two

16:42

or three years, he hadn't won an open

16:44

grade one, but he has done that now.

16:47

And he's answered. of those questions. I

16:49

think he'd be suited by the

16:52

way this race hands out as well.

16:54

He is of course a great winner here in the past and

16:57

I think he might just have a little bit too much

16:59

toll for a factor file but it's not an easy call. I

17:02

was surprised when factor file was

17:04

5 -6. I thought he'd be

17:06

odd against here and I've got to go

17:08

with Marine National at the current prices. All

17:10

right, one for either side in the big

17:12

race of the day. Definitely won't forget about

17:14

that one again. Apologies, lads. So,

17:16

Factor Fire for Ruby Marine National for

17:18

Roy has the look of a real

17:20

fabulous race, El Fabiolo, Salinas, Captain Guinness

17:22

and Sinicia make up the rest of

17:25

the field. Now, I

17:27

mean, the irony of me telling you how to find

17:29

the Ortee races and then not even actually talking about

17:31

one of the Ortee races is not lost on me,

17:33

Rory. But anyway, let's get your best bet on. I'll

17:35

go straight to you, Rory, on day one, please. My

17:38

best bet on day one is going to be

17:40

Lucky Watson, I think. He's

17:42

a friend. He's very much

17:44

a friend of the pocket recently as well.

17:46

Ruby, your best bet? I think

17:48

the best bet is definitely called pick the board. I think

17:51

he'll win. I didn't have a

17:53

strong opinion on the other stress, so I'm

17:55

going to go factor file. All right, back

17:57

to file in the race at six o 'clock, which

17:59

no one would ever had put it

18:01

on a proper running order. That's day

18:03

one lads. As I said, if you want to

18:05

get into the Punchstown mode, watch a professional production,

18:08

involving Patrick Mullins, Ruby Walsh and Paddy Parr

18:10

they go on to Punchstown Rewind really

18:12

good. on the Paddy Parr YouTube channel. We'll

18:14

be back for more where be doing

18:16

more research and actually putting in a proper

18:18

running order for daily podcast. We'll be

18:20

back tomorrow to look ahead to day two

18:22

of the best and enjoy day one

18:24

on RT television or on Racing TV.