Joseph O’Brien: Hopeful Eric Bloodaxe can get the job done at Leopardstown – Betting.betfair
Betfair Ambassador Joseph O’Brien has a few fancies from his eight runners across Leopardstown and Limerick on Sunday.
“Eric Bloodaxe is a gorgeous big horse that we’ve always loved, but he exceeded all expectations when making a winning debut in a strong bumper at Fairyhouse earlier this month.”
Leopardstown
Smart Sempo
Sempo was a smart horse in bumpers last season, finishing sixth in the Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival. I was happy with his seasonal and hurdling debut at Fairyhouse. His jumped was satisfactory and he didn’t get the clearest run in the closing stages. That run should bring him on and this longer trip should suit him, so I’d be hopeful he can run a big race.
Grey Waters has loads to find to win a race like this, but has shown in the past that she is capable of floating around and picking up some prize money and potentially some black type in this sort of company.
In-form and could run well
Speak Easy ran well on his chasing debut and return from a long absence at Fairyhouse last month. He isn’t the easiest to keep right, so we’ve decided to kick on and send him into Graded company while he is in good form. This looks a particularly strong race, but he has always looked a promising horse that was built to be a chaser, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to me if he ran well at a very big price.
Rain will help Darasso
Darasso is so versatile that he had an array of options both over hurdles and fences this Christmas, but with this race looking likely to lack a bit in depth, we decided to supplement him for it. Darasso produced his two best efforts of last season over two miles and beat Coeur Sublime by a long way in the Red Mills Trial Hurdle, albeit that rival probably had an off-day on that occasion. Darasso is particularly effective on soft ground, so any rain that falls will be a help to him.
We still don’t really know what his best trip and discipline are, but he is definitely worth his chance in a race like this. If it doesn’t work out, he can go up in trip and/or over fences, but he looks to be in great shape and I’d be hopeful he can run well here.
Hard not to get excited about Eric
Eric Bloodaxe is a gorgeous big horse that we’ve always loved, but he exceeded all expectations when making a winning debut in a strong bumper at Fairyhouse earlier this month.
For him to do that on his first start was very exciting indeed and he has been very good at home since then. He meets some other exciting winners here, so we’ll find out plenty about him here. It’s hard not to get excited by one that does what he did first time out, but we won’t lose sight of what he is, a big chaser in the making. It won’t be the end of the world if it doesn’t happen for him in this, but hopefully he can get the job done.
Limerick
Fakir has been a little bit disappointing so far, but this represents a significant drop in class for him. He has the ability to win a race like this and this course-and-distance should suit him. I’d be hopeful he can go close.
Gardens of Babylon can close the gap
13:45 – Gardens Of Babylon and Global Equity
Gardens Of Babylon is a solid performer at this level. He looks to be ready to step up in trip, but this will be his last chance to run in four-year-old only company, so we thought we’d let him take that chance. He has ground to make up on Surin based on their last runs, but he is better off at the weights with her and can hopefully close the gap.
Global Equity picked up some black type in a Listed bumper at Navan last time. She ran well in a maiden hurdle on her racecourse debut and should be able to improve on that. Hopefully she can run a good race and might well end up back in bumpers after this.