Cork and Downpatrick betting tips: Peter O'Hehir's…

Cork and Downpatrick betting tips: Peter O'Hehir's selections for Friday's horse racing action

Barbados should open his account for Aidan and Donnacha O’Brien in the Coolmore Stud Maiden in Cork tonight.

Flat action at the Mallow venue, where the new, straight seven-furlong track will be used for the first time, shares the Friday evening slot with jumps action in Downpatrick as a hectic weekend of domestic action kicks off, with double meetings every day until Tuesday.

Once-raced as a juvenile (behind Cruciatus at the Curragh in August), he was pipped by stable-companion South Pacific on his seasonal bow at Naas last month.

Expected to improve significantly from that outing, the Galileo colt will race prominently and should prove tough to beat, with Michael Halford’s Karakhan, second to another Ballydoyle colt Gentile Bellini over this course and distance last month, the danger.

Strangely, the featured Goffs Polonia Stakes, a listed event over five and a half furlongs, is the final race on the card. Aidan O’Brien’s 106-rated Gossamer Wings, making her seasonal debut, sets the standard on figures.

Earlier, Dermot Weld’s Zarandi, denied by a couple of necks when third to Boston Bruin over seven furlongs here over Easter, might have the edge over California Daddy in the opening maiden.

And the Joseph O’Brien-trained Waitingfortheday, a prolific winner last year, should reward each-way support in the seven-furlong Matchbook Straight Seven Handicap.

Meanwhile, in Downpatrick, Willie Mullins could be set for a double with Mister Capitano in the C Russell Auto Sales Maiden Hurdle and the lightly-raced and long-absent Think Positive in the bumper.

And Denis Hogan’s Classic Escape, a clear-cut win in Ballibrobe on Tuesday and 7lb. ‘well-in’ should follow-up, under top-weight, in the Portman Dental Care Handicap Hurdle.