Ballinrobe, Monday 22 June 2026

Ballinrobe, Monday 22 June 2026

A seven-race card at Ballinrobe on good to yielding ground gives us plenty to work through. The course stats are striking before a ball is bowled: Pat Twomey wins at 69% here with an A/E of 2.09, and Dylan Browne McMonagle converts at 40% in the saddle. When those two combine, it pays to sit up straight. Three races are featured below, with the best value angles identified across the card.

5:55 — Irish Stallion Farms EBF Median Auction Maiden (1m1f)

Selection: Camino Lad (6/4, Boyle Sports/Betfred/LiveScore Bet)

Colin Keane takes the ride for Ger Lyons, and while Lyons is only 15% at Ballinrobe across the full record, the yard is firing at 45% in the last fortnight. That’s a yard in form, and Camino Lad shaped with genuine promise on debut at Limerick, finishing third in a race that looked a decent starting point. He steps up in trip today to 1m1.5f, which the pedigree suggests he’ll appreciate, and good to yielding is ideal ground for him. Second-start improvement is the classic angle for a Lyons juvenile, and with Keane booked, this yard does not send horses to Ballinrobe to make up the numbers.

Nermal at 11/8 is also consistent and hard to dismiss, beaten just a length and a quarter at Down Royal last time. The concern is a trainer badly out of form at just 3% over the past two weeks. Consistency only gets you so far when the yard is cold. Camino Lad is preferred at the bigger price.

8:30 — Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies Handicap (1m5f)

Selection: Earthsong Each-Way (11/2, Boyle Sports/LiveScore Bet)

Switch From Diesel will attract plenty of support after bolting up at Punchestown over hurdles, and the Colin Keane booking is hard to ignore. But this is a flat handicap at 1m5f, and translating hurdling form at this trip on a mark that may not fully reflect her flat ability is an open question. The favourite price looks short for that level of uncertainty.

Earthsong represents much cleaner value. She won a handicap at Gowran Park last time by two lengths off a lower mark, over a trip she clearly stays well. McCreery’s yard has had a quiet fortnight but the form is there on the page. She now steps up to 1m5f, and her best efforts have come when allowed to stretch out. Declan McDonogh has ridden her before and knows what he’s getting. At 11/2 each-way in an eight-runner fillies’ handicap, there’s genuine place security alongside the win chance.

Stellar Quality at 5/2 is respected and is probably the one to beat, but the market has already priced in her staying-on third at Gowran Park. Earthsong gives you more upside at the prices.

6:55 — Michael Joyce Memorial Handicap (1m1f, 11 runners)

Selection: Marmeladova Each-Way (9/2, Boyle Sports/Betfred/LiveScore Bet)

This is the race of the day for angles, and the one that rewards thinking past the market leaders. Daler heads the betting at 3/1 after a Leopardstown win, but that 7lb rise makes him a very different proposition and the hood and tongue-tie combo needs to do its job again. Merlin The Wizard won a claimer last time and Dylan Browne McMonagle rides, but stepping up from a Limerick claimer into an 11-runner handicap at this track is a sizeable ask.

Marmeladova is the selection. She won her maiden here at Ballinrobe, which means she already has a winning relationship with this course and track configuration. She heads here off a mark of 75 on her handicap debut, which looks a fair opening rating for a filly who was fourth at Gowran Park last time in a good fillies and mares event. The step into handicap company often suits horses who have been finding maiden company too competitive, and the form of that Gowran Park run was solid. W.J. Lee rides for K.J. Condon, who has had a quiet fortnight stat-wise, but Marmeladova’s profile stands up independently of trainer form. Nine fences, 11 runners, a course winner on a fair opening mark: the each-way case makes itself.

• Camino Lad (5:55) — 6/4, win only
• Earthsong (8:30) — 11/2 each-way, 3 places at 1/5 odds
• Marmeladova (6:55) — 9/2 each-way, 3 places at 1/5 odds

Today’s NAP

Marmeladova — Michael Joyce Memorial Handicap (6:55, Ballinrobe)
Odds: 9/2 — Boyle Sports (others: 9/2 Betfred, 9/2 LiveScore Bet)

A course winner at Ballinrobe making her handicap debut off a mark of 75 that looks entirely fair. Fourth in a good fillies and mares race at Gowran Park last time, she arrives in form and with proven ability at this track. Eleven runners and an opening handicap mark make this a compelling each-way play at 9/2 with genuine win potential.

Each-Way Recommended — 3 places at 1/5 odds