Kemboy and Aspire Tower hot tips for Cheltenham preps in Dublin

Racing Online - Horse Racing News - Ireland Horse Racing News - Kemboy and Aspire Tower hot tips for Cheltenham preps in Dublin
Kemboy

In its inaugural year in 2018, the produced eight winners that went on to salute at the following month. The ground was unseasonably quick last season, but two winners over the weekend at Leopardstown won equivalent races at the Festival in 2019. Kemboy runs in the Paddy Power Irish this Sunday and is +650 with Bovada to win the Cheltenham version. Aspire Tower can put down a marker for the in Ireland this weekend.

This Leopardstown two-day fixture is a valuable addition to the Irish jumps season. The races are in their own right but come at the right time before the Cheltenham Festival. The biggest jumps meeting of the season takes place over four days from March 10 to March 13. A prep-race at the start of February is perfect for horses running six weeks later.

There are eight Grade 1 races and over €2 million in prize money on offer during the 2020 Dublin Racing Festival. The meeting has become established for Cheltenham prep-races, with 10 horses winning in the Irish capital in February and in Gloucestershire in March. Leopardstown drains well so despite heavy rain in the area, the going looks like being good to soft.

Here is some information about the major races at the Dublin Racing Festival:


Saturday at 12.50pm over two miles and six furlongs with a prize fund of €150,000.

LADBROKES DUBLIN CHASE
Saturday at 1.25pm over two miles and one furlong with a prize fund of €150,000.

ERSG ARKLE NOVICE CHASE
Saturday at 2pm over two miles and one furlong with a prize fund of €150,000.

PCI IRISH CHAMPION HURDLE
Saturday at 3.10pm over two miles with a prize fund of €200,000.

TATTERSALLS IRELAND SPRING JUVENILE HURDLE
Sunday at 1.25pm over two miles with a prize fund of €150,000.

CHANELLE PHARMA NOVICE HURDLE
Sunday at 1.55pm over two miles with a prize fund of €150,000.

FLOGAS NOVICE CHASE
Sunday at 3pm over two miles and five furlongs with a prize fund of €150,000.


Sunday at 3.30pm over three miles with a prize fund of €250,000.

We will preview these races during the week, but Kemboy and Aspire Tower are the bets in the current ante-post betting markets. Please be aware that at the time of writing, no bookmaker had announced non-runner/no bet for the Dublin Racing Festival. That means if the backed horse is withdrawn before the day of the race or runs in another race, all ante-post stakes are lost.

Kemboy and Aspire Tower are definite runners barring injuries or a significant change in the going. The double on these two horses pays about +333.33 with online bookmakers. If they win impressively this weekend, their Cheltenham odds will shorten. If you fancy them to win at the Festival, you should back them before the weekend but with bookmakers who have introduced the NRNB concession.

Kemboy is the joint highest-rated chaser in training. The horse is trained by Willie Mullins, whose horses have a good record for improvement from their first to second race of the season. Kemboy won three Grade 1 chases last season so is more battle-hardened than his nearest rival in the betting for the Irish Gold Cup, . Mullins has won the race 10 times and another success with Kemboy would put that horse right in the picture for the Gold Cup at Cheltenham.

Kemboy has won eight races from 16 starts over jumps, but Aspire Tower is at the other end of the experience spectrum in the discipline. The horse has raced 10 times on the Flat and once on the all-weather but won only one of those races. However, Aspire Tower is unbeaten in two juvenile hurdles and has produced a career-high Racing Post Rating (RPR) of 145.

Pentland Hills won the Triumph Hurdle last season with a RPR of 149. Aspire Tower will only have to improve by four pounds to reach a mark required to win the juvenile championship for hurdlers at Cheltenham next month. The horse has won his two hurdle races by 31 lengths in and continued progression at Leopardstown could see him as the favourite for the Triumph Hurdle.

MORE HORSE RACING NEWS

Leave A Comment