Day one over in Ireland pulled a few punters’ pants down yesterday, but we move on to Wednesday’s action with my Punchestown Festival 2025 Day 2 tips.
I’m not complaining about what occurred yesterday. Punting at Punchestown comes with a health warning, and yesterday showed that.
For my selections, Londonofficecallin had a proper task on his hands as he was positioned out of the back of the TV. He actually travelled well around the bend, but he found very little.
Brentford Hope, typically, was the wrong Harry Derham horse, and Lecky Watson fell. Frustrating.
We move.
Punchestown Festival 2025 Day 2 Tips
1:40 Ascot – Docklands @ 11/4 with William Hill – 1.5pt Win
Docklands seems fairly solid in the Listed Paradise Stakes, and despite all his good form with City Of Troy, Charyn, and Via Sistina, he gets in here without a penalty.
He finished second in this race last year when Quddwah collared him late on; the winner went on to win the Group 2 Summer Mile Stakes on his next start before finishing third to Charyn in the Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois.
Furthermore, the third, Maljoom, went on to finish second to Notable Speech in the Group 1 Sussex Stakes, third to Charyn in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes, and third to Soul Rush in the Group 1 Dubai Turf.
So, last year’s race worked out well, and much like tomorrow’s assignment, it came on his first start of the season.
Docklands confirmed that form when finishing one place ahead of Maljoom in the Queen Anne Stakes, and before running in Australia towards the end of the year, he was a fine seventh in the Group 1 Juddmonte International.
His runs in the Cox Plate, TAB Champions Stakes, and Hong Kong Mile weren’t amazing, but connections clearly think plenty of this Massaat five-year-old to target these races in the first place.
This is a stark drop in company, and with a few of these potentially needing the run, he could just be too good.
3:05 Punchestown – Downmexicoway @ 6/1 with William Hill (3 places) – 1pt EW
Downmexicoway has shown glimpses of class so far over hurdles, and with a nice pipe opener at Fairyhouse in a Grade 2 earlier in the month, this race looks like it has been the target for a while.
He won his point-to-point on good ground easily, and his first success under rules came on good to yielding at Down Royal in December, so he clearly likes nicer ground.
There are also bits of his pedigree that show nicer ground is his preference. His dam, On The Way Home, is a Flemensfirth half-brother to Get Me Out Of Here (peak rating of 160) who won a Grade 2 on good to soft, a valuable Newbury handicap on good to soft, and finished second in the 2010 Grade 1 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle on the same ground.
In his first three starts over hurdles, he was positioned very prominently, and he ran well on all those occasions. Darragh O’Keeffe had this six-year-old at the rear of the field on his comeback run in the Grade 2 Donohue Marquees Novice Hurdle, so that run looked like a pipe-opener.
Still, the form of that Grade 2 was boosted thanks to Irancy yesterday.
I’m not sure this is the strongest race tomorrow, and he’s a lightly-raced six-year-old who can continue to improve.
4:50 Punchestown – Kalypso’chance @ 11/2 with William Hill – 1pt Win
I fancied Kalypso’chance in the Champion Bumper and he was disappointing, but I’ll chance him again to reverse the form with Bambino Fever.
I still maintain that his first success at Punchestown in November was one of the more impressive bumper performances I’ve seen this season, and he backed that up at Navan in a Listed race in December.
That Navan success saw him beat Heads Up by four-and-a-half lengths, and John McConnell’s five-year-old finished one-and-a-half lengths behind Bambino Fever at the Festival in the Champion Bumper.
The five-year-old was well-backed ahead of Cheltenham, which is notable, and it was his first start for three months.
Maybe the combination of freshness and the occasion got to him because he was fairly keen?
He’s a better horse than what he showed on his last start, so I’ll chance him here.
6:05 Punchestown – Visionarian @ 22/1 with William Hill (4 places) – 0.5pt EW
Visionarian has dropped 6lbs in the five runs since his Grade 2 success at the start of the season, and this could just be enough to see him run well back in handicap company.
The 10-year-old has won five of his seven races when going right-handed, and while he hasn’t won at the track yet, he finished a respectable second to Adamantly Chosen in 2022 on his sole start at the course.
Although his last winning mark in handicaps came in 2021 (!) when he won off 123, this mark of 145 is his lowest rating since February 2022, and his fifth in the 2023 Galway Plate off 148 suggests he can go well off a lower rating.
Before he moved to Gavin Cromwell’s yard ahead of this season, he finished second to Saint Roi in a Grade 1 novice chase in December 2022 and third to Banbridge in the Grade 1 Manifesto Novices’ Chase.
Yes, that form was from a few seasons ago, but it shows how classy he is, and his win over Minella Indo in the Grade 2 PWC Champion Chase in October 2024 shows he still retains some of that ability.
Having been freshened up since his poor effort in the Galway Plate, he is weighted to go well if he is sharp enough. I have a small worry that this race could bring him on for the Galway Plate, but I’d like to hope he is prepared to win this.
