Ballinrobe, Monday 20 July 2026

Ballinrobe, Monday 20 July 2026

A seven-race card at Ballinrobe on good ground, and there are three races worth getting stuck into. The track stats tell you one thing above all else: Dylan Browne McMonagle wins at a freakish 41% here, with an A/E of 1.76. When he rides at Ballinrobe, you pay attention. Gavin Ryan is also worth noting at 20% and an A/E of 1.53 at this track. Both are live factors across the card today.

Glorious Goodwood is just over a week away, but for now the Irish summer jumping and flat scene rolls on, and Ballinrobe is a proper test of a handicapper’s credentials on a sharp, undulating track that rewards horses with a genuine engine.

7:10 Tote.ie Everyday Is A Money Back Day Handicap (1m5f)

Selection: Londonofficecallin at 15/2 (Boyle Sports / Betfred)

This is a wide-open ten-runner handicap but the form book points fairly clearly at one horse. Londonofficecallin won last time out and has handled this distance and today’s good ground before. Gavin Cromwell’s yard has been quiet lately (2/41 over the past fortnight), but that stat does not worry me unduly when the horse itself arrives in career form. He showed he had a valid excuse between his two wins this season, with the ninth and unplaced run sandwiched in between, and now he returns as a winner stepping back up.

Truth Be Told is the obvious market rival at 5/2 but comes back after 71 days off, which is a proper question mark off just two career starts. Daboya has won her last two and is attractively priced on the face of it, but her rating ranks her eighth of ten in this field, which is a red flag regardless of recent form. War Rooms tops the ratings but Gerard Keane has had a cold fortnight (0/6) and that horse has not won in this spell.

Londonofficecallin at 15/2 with recency on his side is the call.

5:40 Bet With Tote On Racing & Sports Maiden (1m1½f)

Selection: Shay’s Dream Each-Way at 16/1 (Boyle Sports)

On bare form, this looks like a two-horse race between Taj Crown (13/8 favourite) and Avec Grand Plaisir (11/4). But the angle here is not what these horses have done, it is who is in the plate. Dylan Browne McMonagle rides Shay’s Dream for Joseph Patrick O’Brien, and that combination demands serious respect at Ballinrobe. McMonagle wins 41% of his rides at this track. O’Brien is firing at a remarkable 19/58 over the past 14 days. Both facts point the same direction.

Shay’s Dream has a modest look on the figures with a form line of 0-00, but Joseph O’Brien does not just turn up at a track like Ballinrobe with a fancied runner and leave without a reason. The stable clearly feels this horse is ready to step forward, and McMonagle would not be wasting his time on a 16/1 shot if he thought it was a no-hoper. Each-way at three places (1/5 odds) is the play. If this gets placed, you are collecting at just over 3/1 on the place part.

Taj Crown cannot be ignored at the prices but has shown a habit of finishing second and third without converting, and has not run over today’s trip before. Avec Grand Plaisir is interesting at 11/4 but the trainer (0/4 last 14 days) is not in form.

6:10 Download The Tote App Handicap (1m1½f)

Selection: John La Bear Each-Way at 11/2 (Boyle Sports / Betfred)

Thirteen runners, four places, and a genuine progressive profile makes this an ideal each-way race. John La Bear is the call. His record reads two fourths and then a win two starts ago before a below-par seventh last time out. That seventh is actually encouraging rather than damaging: it shows the horse ran below his level, which means the handicapper may not have gone up significantly, and a return to form here is logical.

He has run over both today’s distance and today’s good ground before. Ross O’Sullivan’s yard is not flying (1/15 last 14 days) but it is not stone cold either, and Donagh O’Connor is a competent pilot at this level.

Private Larry won last time out and is respected, but he runs just three days later at 5/2, which is a very short price for a horse backing up so quickly. Aquilla Star rates third on the figures and Colin Keane rides, but John McConnell’s yard is completely out of form (0/28). Aquilla Star might frame without winning.

John La Bear at 11/2 each-way is a clean, well-reasoned bet in a race that suits the format.

Today’s NAP

Londonofficecallin — Tote.ie Everyday Is A Money Back Day Handicap (7:10, Ballinrobe)
Odds: 15/2 — Boyle Sports (others: 15/2 Betfred, 8/1 LiveScore Bet)

The form line tells a simple story: won last time out, handles this trip and today’s good ground, and arrives in the kind of recency that handicap punters dream about. The market rivals all carry concerns, whether that is a lengthy absence, a cold trainer, or ratings that do not back up the hype. At 15/2, this is a genuine price about a horse who should be considerably shorter on his last run alone.