Reds Racing Tips 22-09

Morning all,

Day two of the meeting at Perth and I've gone through the card again for you. Hopefully today goes better than yesterday!

2.10 A fairly tricky opener, with some of these running yesterday, so keep an eye on the non-runners. But I think there's two to focus on here, Moonday Sun (9/4) for Nigel Twiston-Davies and Jet Master for Nick Alexander. The latter reverts back to hurdles after running over fences in June and giving a reasonable account of seventeen lbs higher. He wasn't at his best here at Perth when last seen over hurdles, but is a two-time C&D winner, so doesn't do badly here. The selection however has been in imperious form this season with an impressive win over Three Colours Red at Bangor before following up on handicap debut at Worcester. He looks like he's still got more improving to do and Twiston-Davies likes to target this meeting, so Moonday Sun gets the vote

2.45 Another race that has a few chances in there, but What's Up Woody (9/2) won easily here two weeks ago and races off the same mark. He'll enjoy the conditions and although he steps back in trip, he should have enough speed to cope with that. Bright Prospect has to contend with a twelve lbs rise in the weights, while Foxtail Hill hasn't been seen for a long while and needs to have sorted out his jumping to be challenging. 

3.20 The big one. This race has been billed for a while as the return of the national hunt season and hopefully Ballyandy and Moon Racer can live up to the expectation. Both former champion bumper winners make their hurdles debut today. A lot will depend on how the race is run, with Ballyandy looking like he wants further than two miles and in theory Moon Racer should do him for speed. But if Nigel Twiston-Davies' charge turns it into a battle of stamina, then it wouldn't surprise me to see the Pipe horse back out tamely. Either way, this race will be a watching brief for me. Just sit back and enjoy two exciting prospects.

3.50 A difficult race with a number of these having run here yesterday, so expect some to be declared non-runners. I'm going to take a punt on Fred Le Macon (8/1). A winner on Friday at Hexham in a conditions race, his mark is unchanged and he should enjoy the step up in trip, having stayed on well. C&D winners Green Zone and Buckled should also go well.

4.25 Another Twiston-Davies v Pipe as Flying Angel (11/10) takes on Impulsive American. The latter has been in tremendous form in both codes, while the former is an Imperial Cup winner and Martin Pipe runner-up. But they're not the only ones to focus on in a competitive race. Gordon Elliot's two, Western Home and Tempo Mac should give a bold showing (although the former ran yesterday and fell, so could give this a miss) while Nigel Hawke as brought Rejaah a long way for this. She gets plenty of weight, but has a difficult task on her hand and I fancy that Flying Angel could be too good for all of them. Twiston-Davies has won this five times since 2006 and could notch another today.

5.00 Not the strongest of races and you'd imagine this will be be between What A Moment (11/4) and Ballymalin. The former yet has to prove himself at this trip, but he does seem a talented type, who has ran well in better races than this. He'll have to account for Ballymalin though, who has won over this far in a point to point and makes his hurdles debut. Round Tower looks up against it, having to give away weight all round.

5.30 Finally, we finish with a bumper and there's a few types in here, who we'll hear more of this season. It's a competitive field, but Fergal O'Brien often gets one ready for this sort of race and it would be no surprise to see him claim more spoils with Athy River (8/1).