This afternoon see’s the start of the Punchestown Festival over in Ireland, five days of fantastic jumps action that is kicked off with three Grade 1 races this afternoon. The feature of those is the Boylesports Champion Chase where Douvan is the odds on favourite to get the better of Min and Un De Sceaux. Back across the Irish Sea there’s another five meetings with Flat fixtures from Yarmouth and Brighton, whilst there’s National Hunt racing from Ludlow and Huntingdon.
My selection this afternoon comes from down at Yarmouth in the 15:25 where I’m fancying trainer David Lanigan’s ATTICUS BOY (12/1) to claim the first victory of his short career. This 3-year-old Colt made his debut back in December at Wolverhampton over a mile where he produced an average performance being beaten by 10 lengths. He has shown much improvement since then as he followed that up with a trip to Kempton where he finished really well in a tight finish but was still 8th, however he had showed a great deal more promise.
On the back of that run this son of Cape Cross was sent down to Chelmsford and stepped up in trip for a Class 5 handicap over 10 furlongs. After being sent off at 16/1 he tracked the leaders and ran on well to finish 3rd. Both the horses who finished in front of Atticus Boy that day were promising types from top stables in John Gosden and Charlie Appleby’s, giving more credit the third placed he achieved.
Another interesting pointer is that this horse is a half brother to Take A Turn who managed to pick up two victories last year for the same connections and with the middle distance looking like the perfect trip, I’m hopeful of a credible run from Atticus Boy this afternoon. Stevie Donohoe has been in the saddle for the this horse’s last two runs and he will once again be doing so this afternoon. There are a couple in this race who come from the so called Powerstables but at the current price at 12/1 I’m willing to take an each way chance on this colt who improved on each of his starts as a novice.
15:25 Yarmouth - 1m2f Handicap - Class 5 - Atticus Boy 12/1 - 0.5pt each way
