Rory Delargy and David Massey are back with a couple of fancies to consider this Sunday.
Racing betting tips: Sunday March 2
1pt e.w. Monbeg Park in 4.02 Leopardstown at 4/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3,4)
0.5pts e.w. Cullenwaine in 4.37 Leopardstown at 33/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3,4)
4.02 Leopardstown
Five of these met in the Grade 3 O’Driscoll’s Irish Whiskey Leopardstown Handicap Chase at the Dublin Racing Festival, with MONBEG PARK faring much the best in finishing third to an unexposed and progressive pair, with a gap of 13 lengths behind him to the fourth.
The winner landed a substantial gamble that day and runner-up Sequestered had won a competitive contest at the Christmas meeting by ten lengths, so it was a decent performance from Monbeg Park in third, and fully merits a 4lb rise in the weights.
The downside with Monbeg Park is what’s often called “the optics”, in that his performances on paper don’t always chime with his demeanour, and he displayed both a high head carriage and a tendency to flash his tail in the finish. That will put many off, but the crucial thing for me is that he was pulling away from the others all the time his temper was on show, and he’s had his quirks since day one, which have yet to stop him showing very useful form over jumps.
Monbeg Park will also be suited by the drying ground at Leopardstown, with his lifetime record on ground described as yielding or faster reading 31214512223, improving to 312122 when turned out within four weeks of a previous run. He may not be the prettiest to watch, but he’s got a huge chance of hitting the frame at least in this contest, and looks an each-way bet to nothing.
4.37 Leopardstown
Jumping is a concern for the unexposed CULLENWAINE, who has taken time to show his ability over fences, but he produced an improved display when beating Brandt at Thurles in December when getting good ground, and ran well in defeat at Navan last time when the ground was arguably softer than ideal.
Cullenwaine was headed by Brandt before the straight at Thurles, but forged away again from the final fence to win by a comfortable five lengths, looking a thorough stayer as he did so.
That’s no surprise given he’s a son of Gloden Lariat, whose best progeny to date have been Irish National winner Lord Lariat and Scottish National runner-up Dingo Dollar. The step up to a marathon trip will put less pressure on his jumping, as will the better ground, and he’s capable of running well at a big price.
Published at 1022 GMT on 02/03/25
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