Dublin Racing Festival Day Two Tips: @RoadCheltenham's Sunday Leopardstown Picks

One day down, one day to go – focus turns to Sunday at Leopardstown for the second day of the Dublin Racing Festival. Some horses will have enhanced their Cheltenham Festival credentials on Saturday while plenty of bubbles will be burst as well.
Declarations are in and we could be in for a real treat, with four Grade 1 races across the card and a couple of lucrative handicaps for punters to assess. Who will prevail on the big stage this Sunday? Only time will tell.
As with my Saturday preview, I’ll be providing a selection on each race at the Dublin Racing Festival on Sunday – with a NAP of the Day and a ‘Next Best’ at Leopardstown. I wish the very best of luck to you all and hope you back a winner or two!
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12:40 Leopardstown - Irish Stallion Farms EBF Paddy And Maureen Mullins Mares Handicap Hurdle
The Listed Mares Handicap Hurdle is always competitive and there is plenty of value if you look through the market. Queens Gamble is the market leader and Harry Derham has enjoyed success with runners on this side of the Irish Sea already this season but I am happy to oppose her given the yard’s recent struggles.
J J Slevin gave LILY DU BERLAIS a nice write-up in his preview ahead of the weekend and she is just 1lb higher than the mark she won a £25,000 handicap off at Kelso in the spring. She’s a big each way price and she has won around Leopardstown, which is a big plus for her chances.
13:10 'Leopardstown - Ladbrokes Novice Chase
Croke Park has won two Grade 1s but plenty believe that Better Days Ahead is the more talented of Gordon Elliott’s runners in the race – though I’m not sure if he really wants to be dropping back in trip. Instead, it may prove prudent to focus on Willie Mullins’ crop of novice chasers and the Closutton master dominates the betting.
I’d be happy enough to see Ballyburn prevail and it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see a ‘wow’ performance from him. Having said that, I am a huge fan of IMPAIRE ET PASSE and I think the decision to go to the Dublin Racing Festival instead of Sandown is very interesting indeed. Fingers crossed the race lives up to the hype.
13:40 Leopardstown - Tattersalls Ireland Novice Hurdle
All KOPEK DES BORDES (NAP), aren’t we? I’ve said it before in this column and I’ll say it again – they absolutely love this fella at home and I have high hopes that he is Willie Mullins’ best novice hurdler. He has five stablemates to contend with but he is the choice of Paul Townend and he can enhance his Cheltenham Festival claims this weekend.
Looking ahead to Cheltenham, I’ll be keeping a close eye on the likes of Karniquet and Karafon and how they run with a view to the Festival. They could be potential handicap types if everything goes as expected on Sunday while Bleu De Vassy is no back number and he can challenge the principles.
14:10 Leopardstown - Dublin Chase
Another Grade 1, another Willie Mullins runner and I’ll be siding with EL FABIOLO on his return from injury. I’m not entirely sure that Gaelic Warrior loves it round Leopardstown and he is untrustworthy though is obviously talented. He’s the type who could make an absolute mockery of me and bolt up but he’s a short enough price.
I couldn’t be having Marine Nationale in a month of Sundays while I would have huge concerns over the Henry de Bromhead yard right now. With just one win from their last 29 runners, that rules both Captain Guinness and Quilixios out for me. Solness is a big price given his success at Christmas and he can feature in the shake-up.
14:45 Leopardstown - O'Driscolls Irish Whiskey Leopardstown Handicap Chase
Gavin Cromwell gave me BACKTONORMAL as his dark horse for the season and the yard targeted this race last year with Perceval Legallois – who fell when running a huge race and in contention to win. On all known form, he may be a tad short in the betting but his form could be franked on Saturday in the Irish Arkle so bear that in mind...
I like Monbeg Park and he’s a consistent enough type. While you could say he’s always the bridesmaid but never the bride, he’ll run his race and he is available at a nice each way price.
15:20 Leopardstown - Irish Champion Hurdle
Paul Townend rides State Man in the Irish Champion Hurdle but that didn’t really come as a surprise to me given his affinity to the horse – and it is the smart decision in terms of the bigger picture. Despite uncertainty surrounding the jockey bookings on Friday morning, Danny Mullins will ride LOSSIEMOUTH and that puts her as my selection.
Danny won on her during her juvenile days and he is an excellent jockey, he rides this track superbly well and his Dublin Racing Festival record is superb. He will give her the best possible opportunity to win the race and we’ll find out if she is indeed a Champion Hurdle mare or if she’s bound for the Mares Hurdle on Day 1 at Cheltenham.
15:50 Leopardstown - Timeless Sash Windows Handicap Hurdle
Brave Troop has been found in the market and you can understand why. The eyes are so often draw to those silks in big field handicaps but that is also true of MCLAUREY – an easy enough winner of a 17 runner race at Limerick and Mark Walsh is getting down to an absolute featherweight 10-2 (his lowest riding weight in over a year) to ride.
I’d give Relieved of Duties a fair chance off a mark of 134 and he can run into the places but the aforementioned two are the right market leaders in my opinion.
16:25 Leopardstown - Coolmore N.H. Sires Luxembourg Irish EBF Mares I.N.H. Flat Race
I get the impression that AMEN KATE (NB) could be a good thing and the Thomas Cooper yard have been bigging her up ahead of the Grade 2 mares bumper. She really caught the eye on debut at Listowel in September and it’ll be interesting to see if she can back that up on Sunday afternoon.
Future Prospect looks very useful indeed but this is a hot race and she’s a bit skinny for me at the prices. Cameletta Vega is bred to be very good but she’ll need to improve on her effort the last day while Blue Velvet had a lofty reputation at the start of the season but was underwhelming when winning at Thurles in December.