Curragh, Friday 26 June 2026: Tips and Best Bets

Curragh, Friday 26 June 2026: Tips and Best Bets

Light rain is settling over the Curragh this evening, which should keep the ground honest without turning it testing. A three-race card with some genuinely competitive handicaps gives us plenty to work with, and the stayers’ handicap to close the card looks the most intriguing puzzle of the night. Let’s get into it.

6:10 — Schweppes Trophy Handicap (7f, 18 runners)

Selection: Collecting Coin Each-Way — 6/1 (Boyle Sports, Betfred, LiveScore Bet)

Jessica Harrington’s yard has been in solid form, firing at 4/34 over the last 14 days, which for a big operation like hers represents a yard that is keeping its powder dry and placing horses well. Shane Foley takes the ride, and that combination at a venue like the Curragh in a competitive 18-runner handicap should not be underestimated.

The form reads 5-5430 which is honest rather than spectacular, but in an 18-runner handicap with five places on offer at 1/5 odds, Collecting Coin at 6/1 represents genuine each-way value. Foley picks his rides carefully and does not waste his time in races he does not fancy. The seven-furlong trip on good ground suits a horse who has been consistent without quite getting his head in front, and a little softening from the rain could help rather than hinder.

Indigo Dream for Ross O’Sullivan (Colin Keane up, yard in form at 4/21) is the obvious market rival and deserves respect, but the 13/2 versus 6/1 gap makes Collecting Coin the smarter each-way play in a wide-open heat.

6:45 — Fitzpatrick’s Mercedes-Benz Apprentice Derby Handicap (1m4f, 23 runners)

Selection: Eastern Peace Each-Way — 12/1 (Boyle Sports, Betfred, LiveScore Bet)

This is a monster field of 23 runners, five places paid out, and the apprentice element adds a layer of unpredictability that keeps the market honest. The angle here is the trainer. Ross O’Sullivan has been absolutely flying, registering 5/21 over the last 14 days, and he saddles two in this race. Eastern Peace is the one to side with.

The form line of 9419-3 tells you this filly has been knocking on the door. A third last time out keeps her handicap mark manageable, and stepping up to a mile and four furlongs looks a logical progression for a four-year-old filly who has shaped as if staying further will suit. Jack Cleary, who is not burdened by a claiming allowance here (the race is for apprentices), knows his way around and this is a well-placed runner from a stable that has been ruthless in placing its horses to win.

At 12/1 in a 23-runner each-way race, Eastern Peace is the value play. O’Sullivan clearly fancies her chances or he would not be doubling up in the same heat, and she is the one the stable form points toward.

7:55 — O’Driscolls Irish Whiskey EBF Stayers Handicap (2m½f, 13 runners)

Selection: Ballyadam — 4/1 (Boyle Sports, Betfred, 7/2 LiveScore Bet)

Henry De Bromhead has been in outstanding form, striking at an exceptional 11/38 over the last 14 days. That is a trainer absolutely at the top of his game right now, placing horses with precision, and Ballyadam carries that stable confidence into a two-mile-plus stayers’ handicap on going that suits a horse with a National Hunt background.

The form reads 3-321, which is the strongest profile in this field. Placed in three of four recent starts, the horse has been creeping closer each time and the step back up in trip to two miles and a half furlongs after a variety of tests looks ideal. Ronan Whelan is a polished partner for a staying type on this ground. The light rain arriving on good going is the kind of surface that suits a horse who wants to gallop.

De Bromhead does not run horses like this for fun in a 13-runner staying handicap on a Friday evening at the Curragh. The yard is firing, the form is rock solid, and 4/1 with four places on offer is fair rather than generous, but this is the banker of the card.

Today’s NAP

Ballyadam — O’Driscolls Irish Whiskey EBF Stayers Handicap (7:55, Curragh)
Odds: 7/2 — LiveScore Bet (others: 4/1 Boyle Sports, 4/1 Betfred)

Henry De Bromhead has been on a relentless run of form at 11/38 over the last 14 days, and Ballyadam’s recent form of 3-321 is the standout profile in this stayers’ handicap. Progressive, suited by the trip, on ground that will play to his stamina strengths after the light rain, and partnered by the reliable Ronan Whelan. A stable this hot with a horse trending upward at 7/2 with four places available is exactly the kind of NAP that wins you money on a Friday night card.