Horse Racing Tips: Fran Berry’s Friday night picks at Dundalk

Fran's back with his Friday night fancies and he likes the look of Swan Band in the 18:00.

By / Horse Racing Tips / 8 months ago

Fran Berry’s Dundalk Tips

17:00 Pomeriggo
17:30 Back Down Under
18:00 Swan Band (Nap)
18:30 Inishmot Prince
19:00 Celtic Revival (each-way)
19:30 Samrogue
20:00 Slieve Bearnaigh
20:30 Rhythm and Tyne

*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.

Fran Berry’s Win Acca: 

Back Down Under (17.30)  Swan Band (18:00) Slieve Bearnagh (20:00) Rhythm & Tyne (20:30)

17:00 – Pomeriggo

I’ve landed on number five. POMERIGGIO, trained by Jessica Harrington. Not entirely sure she’s totally in love with the game, but a couple of her runs are very, very good in the context of this race. She performed very well at Roscommon in August, ran a really good race in Naas, where she stayed on really well late on to be fourth to Basilia Bear, and again kept on late on at both the Curragh and Gowran Park, looking either like she’s very slow or she’s getting bogged down in the ground.

And I’m prepared to take a chance that she’s just getting bogged down in the ground to an extent. And, being by Caravaggio, his progeny tend to do well on the polytrack.

Overall, her level of form in decent nurseries is quite good compared to a lot of these. And, I’m hoping that a switch to the polytrack will help her to travel better and if it does, she’s a big player in a very tough contest.

17:30 Back Down Under

BACK DOWN UNDER looks the pick unless one of the newcomers is very smart. She couldn’t run in auction races during the summer months. She never went through the ring and as a consequence she was running against some nice fillies along the way, particularly at Naas when she ran a cracker and was placed a couple of times. She’d a really good run at Down Royal and then ran another cracker on her return at Naas. On another day she may well have won.

The key to her is good ground. She showed  that she can get 6f very well and she’s beginning to relax and find her rhythm. She can make use of her experience and prove hard to beat.

 

18:00 Swan Band

After she ran the last day at Dundalk I thought SWAN BAND was a future winner waiting to happen. I love the way she went through the race. She showed a bit of promise on her debut at the Curragh in July after being off for three or four months and she held up well on the rail.

She travelled really well and made a good go of it down towards the inside when most of the action was happening away from her in the middle of the track. She looked like an obvious improver from the run.

Given the promise of that run, Swan Band with a kind draw in stall four is the one to beat.

18:30 Inishmot Prince

I’d be backing INISHMOT PRINCE  to gain another success at this track. He loves stalking the pace and with two to three pacemakers in this race, it should really play to his strengths. He should be able to get a good position in midfield from stall 11.

He is still 7lbs to 9lbs lower than his peak all-weather rating and he comes in on the back of a recent win and a recent run over 5f. A return to 6f will suit Inishmot Prince who has everything going for him to get another course success under his regular rider James Ryan.

19:00 Celtic Revival

A 2m handicap where Time to Tell makes a quick reappearance despite running disappointingly on Wednesday. I couldn’t fancy her after that and if she doesn’t run it really compresses the handicap as she was declared so the weights stay the same.

That could benefit A Piece of Heaven off a mark of 85. Noel Meade’s Crassus could be a player under Colin Keane but I’m happy to watch for now. Jim Bolger’s Bold Approach and New Year Honours for Gordon Elliott could be interesting too.

The one that interests me the most though is CELTIC REVIVAL who was racing over 1m 4f was has been very progressive. This 2m trip should be right up his street. He’s ultra-consistent and despite a step up in grade, could be progressive again over this new distance at a track he likes.

 

19:30 Samrogue

A 5f handicap headed by Samrogue where plenty have chances. Realtin Fantasy beat eight rivals who re-oppose but some are now weighted to beat her. Bonny Power is better than she’s shown recently but needs to show more again, to get me interested.

SAMROGUE is on a roll and has Oisin McSweeney on board. If she breaks on terms she can follow the pace runners drawn around her like No Speed Limit and Realtin Fantasy.

20:00 Slieve Bearnaigh

The first division of the 1m 2f handicap has 14 declared with three reserves and Paddy’s paying 4 places. Shining Aitch won well last time but is inconsistent while runner-up Comfort Line bounced back to form and could overturn the tables this time.

Seamie Heffernan takes over on Not Just Any Eagle from Pat Flynn’s stable apprentice and is only 1lb higher than when winning at Cork a couple of years ago. Mick Halford and Tracy Collins are in good form and SLIEVE BEARNAIGH could be the one to side with, especially given that Colin Keane is booked to ride.

20:30 Rhythm and Tyne

The second division of the 1m 2f handicap closes the card and Charles Byrnes’ RHYTHM AND TYNE won last time out and quickened up well the last day to win. Adam Caffrey claims 5lbs and they could be hard to beat again, particularly if there’s strong market support.

Moondharrig really improved for her debut run in a handicap and could be progressive while any market move for Where R U Now Bob with Seamie Heffernan booked should be noted.

Fran Berry’s Horse Racing Tips

17:00 Pomeriggo
17:30 Back Down Under
18:00 Swan Band (Nap)
18:30 Inishmot Prince
19:00 Celtic Revival (each-way)
19:30 Samrogue
20:00 Slieve Bearnaigh
20:30 Rhythm and Tyne

Fran Berry’s Win Acca: 

Back Down Under (17.30)  Swan Band (18:00) Slieve Bearnagh (20:00) Rhythm & Tyne (20:30)

*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.

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