Listowel, Monday 1 June: Tips and Best Bets

Listowel, Monday 1 June: Tips and Best Bets

Rain is falling on Listowel but the ground remains good, which suits the sharper, more athletic types across today’s seven-race card. It is a modest Monday programme in Kerry, but there are angles worth following, particularly in the handicap hurdle and the beginners chase. Henry De Bromhead’s yard has been in decent nick over the past fortnight, and Gavin Cromwell’s operation is absolutely firing at 9/53 in the last 14 days. Keep that in mind throughout.

2:57 — Join Racing TV With A Free Trial Now Handicap Hurdle (2m, Good)

Selection: Wholelotofbusiness Each-Way at 7/2 Boyle Sports

Eoin Christopher McCarthy has had two winners from 13 runners in the past 14 days, and Wholelotofbusiness represents his stronger hand in this race. The seven-year-old won a novice at Killarney over 2m1f on yielding ground last October and posted a very similar effort when third in a handicap at the same track last month. He is off an untouched mark and the Killarney form has worked out decently. G B Noonan takes the ride and the good ground here is no concern given previous form on similar surfaces.

The market leader, Putapoundinthejar, has the best bare figures and a fifth of 21 in a Listed handicap at Punchestown reads well at face value. But AJ Martin’s yard has gone just 2/9 in the last 14 days, and a Listed handicap is a very different test to what he faces here. Becasse is interesting at 9/2 for De Bromhead, who hits at 16% at Listowel with a positive A/E of 1.04. The French-bred gelding remains unexposed and his Wexford second was a promising comeback. He could easily outrun that price with a clean round, but the lack of recent jumping evidence is the sticking point.

At 7/2 with three places on offer, Wholelotofbusiness offers solid each-way value in a nine-runner field. Solid handicapper, right mark, right track.

• Wholelotofbusiness Each-Way, 7/2 Boyle Sports, EW: 3 places at 1/5 odds

3:32 — John B. Keane Beginners Chase (2m3f, Good)

Selection: Whispering Willow at 1/2 Boyle Sports

Short prices are not always to be avoided, and this is a desperately weak beginners chase where the odds-on favourite is justified. Whispering Willow is trained by Gavin Cromwell, whose yard is absolutely in form right now at 9/53 in the last 14 days. The five-year-old mare made a brilliant stable debut in a handicap hurdle at Punchestown and went very close on her chase debut at Downpatrick over 2m3f, matching today’s trip, on good to yielding ground. She jumped soundly that day and races off experience her rivals simply cannot match at this level.

The remainder of this field are a collection of moderate animals with limited form to recommend them. Tropical Image has course form, having won a 2m6f handicap hurdle at Listowel in September, but her chase debut was 22 lengths adrift. Brave Endeavour was tailed off on his chase debut at Limerick. There is no credible rival to Whispering Willow here. Keith Donoghue is a capable handler of a young chaser and the Cromwell yard sends this mare in with every chance of getting the job done.

Odds-on, yes. But sometimes the favourite is the only horse in the race worth backing.

• Whispering Willow, 1/2 Boyle Sports

4:07 — John J. Galvin Chase (2m3f, Good)

Selection: Jesse Evans Each-Way at 5/2 Boyle Sports

Blood Destiny is the odds-on market leader and has every right to be prominent here. He won this race last year, added a Grade 3 at Naas since, and Paul Townend, who hits at 22% at Listowel, takes the ride. That combination is hard to dismiss. But at 5/6, you are not getting paid for the risk, and there is a genuine alternative at a much healthier price.

Jesse Evans is a five-time hurdle winner who has shown enough over fences to suggest the form figures flatter to deceive. He was runner-up in last summer’s Galway Plate and returned from his break to finish just four lengths behind in a Grade 3 at Killarney three weeks ago over 2m4f. That comeback run was encouraging, and Noel Meade’s yard has two winners from 25 runners over the past 14 days, suggesting the horses are ticking over. At 5/2, Jesse Evans is the value play in this six-runner field with two places on offer.

Classic Getaway at 7/1 is also worth a mention. Any rain welcomed according to the Spotlight notes, and the going could ease further during the day. The Mullins second string in a small field is rarely a bad each-way dart, but Jesse Evans at 5/2 is the smarter play given his recent comeback form.

• Jesse Evans Each-Way, 5/2 Boyle Sports, EW: 2 places at 1/4 odds

Today’s NAP

Whispering Willow — John B. Keane Beginners Chase (3:32, Listowel)
Odds: 1/2 — Boyle Sports (others: SP Betfred, 1/2 LiveScore Bet)

Gavin Cromwell’s yard is the form stable of the moment at 9/53 in the past 14 days, and Whispering Willow is precisely the type they send out to win. She improved markedly on her stable debut at Punchestown, jumped well enough on her chase debut at Downpatrick to go very close, and faces a field that has nothing to match her on form or ability. On a wet Monday at Listowel, this is the bet of the day. Short, yes. Safe, almost certainly.