The wet weather has washed away all but Wolverhampton’s all-weather Flat meeting on the domestic bank holiday programme, with Chepstow, Fakenham and Market Rasen all deciding by 9am on Monday to abandon what would normally be among their most lucrative meetings of the year. Plumpton, which raced on Sunday, joined the list after a second inspection.
Midnightly (1.30) and Kyllachy Dragon (2.00) both have solid chances on the Flat card, but the attention of most punters will now focus squarely on Ireland, where the private battle between Gordon Elliott and Willie Mullins for the Irish trainers’ title could shift decisively as a result of the Irish Grand National at 5pm.
Elliott has a healthy lead of around €450,000 over Mullins after the first day of the Easter Festival at Fairyhouse, when Mullins’s Al Boum Photo edged out his rival’s Shattered Love by a length in the Ryanair Gold Cup. He is also due to saddle a record 13 runners in the National on Monday, while Mullins must content himself with just four contenders for a first prize of €270,000.
Jack Kennedy is the effective No 1 jockey at the Elliott stable and his mount Monbeg Notorious has been the one for money in recent days, from 14-1 down to a top price of 9-1 on Monday morning. The Thyestes Chase winner is chasing a four-timer, will love the heavy ground and has a very obvious chance, while Pairofbrowneyes (9-1) and Bellshill (11-1), Mullins’s main hopes, are two of the next three names in the betting.
Neither trainer has won this race before, which adds an interesting twist to the narrative, while the forecast for as much as 20mm of rain on heavy ground before post time in early evening also needs to be factored into considerations.
The conditions could be desperate by the time the race gets under way, and Pat Kelly’s Mall Dini (5.30), who had the stamina and class to win the Pertemps Final at the Cheltenham Festival over hurdles, could be the horse to frustrate Irish jumping’s two powerhouse stables once again.
Greg Wood's Easter Monday tips
Wolverhampton 1.00 U S S Missouri 1.30 Midnightly 2.00 Kyllachy Dragon 2.35 Scrutiny 3.10 Morning Skye 3.45 Vale Of Kent 4.20 Prince Jai
Mall Dini came up half a length short of his second Festival win in the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Handicap Chase at Cheltenham last month off Monday’s mark of 143, having travelled like a well-handicapped horse throughout, and has a hold-up running style which could allow Mark Walsh to save his mount for the closing stages while some of the principals fight their private battles up front. At around 9-1, he is a fair bet to give both trainer and jockey their first wins in Ireland’s most valuable and prestigious handicap chase.
