Racing continues at Dundalk on Wednesday and our man in Ireland, Fran Berry, has two strong bets to consider on an interesting card.
Wednesday racing at Dundalk continues this evening - as will be the case for the next six weeks - and Shane Foley needs a big night if he is to give himself a realistic chance of overhauling Colin Keane in the jockeys’ championship.
Colin currently leads by seven winners and with both set to ride at the Breeders' Cup next week, you feel time is running out for Shane, particularly if he isn't able to eat into that lead tonight.
The action begins at 4.25 but the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden (5.30) is the first really interesting race on the card with a number of these coming here with solid form in the book and the promise of more to come.
With that in mind, a watching brief is probably best advised but debutant Catena Zapata is one to note after he finished second in a barrier trial here recently. The winner of that trial has already come out and finished second in what looked a strong Naas maiden while the third was successful last week.
A wide draw tempers my enthusiasm somewhat, while his price his tightening into single figures at the time of writing, but I'm not ruling out a big run in what does looks a warm race.
Another who doesn't make the staking plan but is well worth watching is Great Midge, a market springer in the HOLLYWOODBETS Handicap (Div II) at 6.30.
I actually rode this horse a couple of times back in 2018 when he was trained by Henry Candy and he really caught the eye last time when finishing in midfield over five furlongs at Cork. He drops in class now, handles polytrack well, and with a good claimer taking an extra 5lb off his back, I'd expect him to go very close.
Nevertheless, his price has gone having been around the 12/1 mark earlier and instead, I'd prefer to strike a bet in the first division (6.00) on Cappella Liath who went into my notebook with a much better effort at Fairyhouse most recently.
That was a big step up on anything he had shown previously and I'd expect there to be plenty more to come. Noticeably green though the early stages there, the race got away from him before he finished well for fifth and the penny might just be dropping now.
This will only be his fifth career start, and first try at seven furlongs, and the shrewd Gerard Keene enlists son, Colin, to do the steering. With most firms paying four places, he looks a solid each-way play at 11/2.
An hour later, Rock The Barzah is likely to go off favourite for the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Auction Maiden (7.00) following her debut fourth at Fairyhouse.
That was a good run and she is entitled to build on it, but the form is nothing special and I'm happy to take her with Anna Strada who sports first-time cheekpieces as she drops back to six furlongs.
Some of her form his very strong - she was third to Pretty Gorgeous on debut and second to Amber Kite next time - while she was still in there pitching with a furlong to run before fading into fourth over seven furlongs here just under three weeks ago.
She brings a good level of form and experience to the table tonight having done nothing wrong in defeat so far and faced with what might be her easiest task so far, I'll be disappointed if she can't go very close. 13/2 looks a knocking each-way bet.
Posted at 1330 BST on 28/10/20
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