Punchestown: Fabulous entries for five day Festival

News / Timeform / 05 April 2012 / Leave a Comment

Jewson winner Sir des Champs will run at Punchestown.

“It’s been so far so good with Sir Des Champs so let’s hope he stays sound for Punchestown..."

The entries have been announced for the first two days of the 2012 Punchestown Festival and a whole array of stars look set to line up at Ireland's flagship National Hunt meeting...

Wednesday's feature, the Punchestown Gold Cup, has attracted 32 entries, compared to 14 last year, and a fantastic contest is in store.

There are 10 entries from Britain including Sir Alex Ferguson's What A Friend and Aerial from Paul Nicholls' stable. Meanwhile actor Jimmy Nesbitt's Ryanair Chase winner Riverside Theatre is one of three engaged from Nicky Henderson's yard along with Cheltenham Gold Cup fourth Burton Port and Quantitativeeasing.

The 2010 Punchestown Gold Cup winner Planet Of Sound could represent Philip Hobbs alongside Captain Chris, who is on course for a visit to Ireland, while Donald McCain has engaged the 2011 Grand National winner Ballabriggs and Charlie Hall Chase hero Weird Al.

A strong home team include last year's winner Follow The Plan and the exciting novice First Lieutenant, who could carry the colours of Michael O'Leary's Gigginstown House Stud in the championship event.

The seven-year-old, who finished second to Bobs Worth in the RSA Chase at Cheltenham, is also entered in the Grade 1 Champion Novice Chase on Tuesday, on April 24, but the brilliant novice Sir Des Champs - winner of Cheltenham's Jewson Novices' Chase - is likely to carry the Gigginstown colours in that race.

"If all goes well and both are sound on the day then Sir Des Champs would go for the Champion Novice Chase on the first day of the meeting," said Eddie O'Leary, racing manager to Gigginstown House Stud.

"I'm not saying he definitely will, but First Lieutenant could go for the Gold Cup. We've kept the two of them apart all year and I think we will still try and keep them apart.

"It's been so far so good with Sir Des Champs so let's hope he stays sound for Punchestown.

"It was a fantastic run by First Lieutenant at Cheltenham and we've been very happy with him. He was beaten by a very good horse that day and perhaps the ground was a bit too soft for him over there."

The Gigginstown colours are also set to be carried in the Punchestown Gold Cup by Quito De La Roque, who looked a hugely exciting prospect before disappointing in the Lexus Chase on December 28.

"All being well Quito will go for the Gold Cup and he's very, very well," said O'Leary.

"We were all very disappointed the last day when he got beaten but he was sick afterwards.

"Hopefully we'll see him back to his best again at Punchestown."

Trainer Noel Meade revealed today that Realt Dubh, who finished fifth in the two-mile Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham on his only start this season, is set to step up in trip for the Punchestown Gold Cup.

"I think Realt Dubh will run in the Punchestown Gold Cup over three miles and one furlong," said Meade.

"I don't know if the trip will bring out improvement because last year when he got beat in the Drinmore Novice Chase I worried that he didn't get two and a half miles, but then he won the Powers Gold Cup over two and a half.

"I just think two miles is too short for him and there is no two and a half mile race at Punchestown so the three mile and one furlong race is the one he will go for.

"That's what the plan is at the moment anyway. But if it was really heavy ground he would probably go for the Champion Chase over two miles at Punchestown.

"It was his first run for a long time in the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham and he ran OK. He didn't run in the Webster Cup at Navan on Saturday because of the ground."

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Ligue 1 Betting Preview: Can fabulous Lyon upset Lille?

French Football / James Eastham / 24 February 2011 / Leave a Comment

"There are three good reasons to oppose Ligue 1 leaders Lille when they host title rivals Lyon at Stade Metropole on Sunday night."

PSG are always great value for entertainment and their dodgy defence means overs backers are rewarded. So have Toulouse got the attack to exploit them? Meanwhile, James Eastham fancies Lyon to cause Lille problems on a potato patch.

PSG v Toulouse - Sun, kick-off 16:00 UK time

After going a couple of games without scoring (1-0 defeat at Rennes and 0-0 home draw v Lens) PSG bounced back into form last weekend with a 3-0 win over relegation-threatened Nice. A sprightly performance from Nene was one of the biggest reasons behind their improvement: after a poor month by his own standards, the Brazilian left-winger was involved in all three goals on a day when the capital club had 11 shots on target.

PSG's chances of producing another high-scoring performance are higher than you would normally expect because Toulouse's fourth-choice goalkeeper, Ali Ahamada, will start. Yohann Pele, Mathieu Valverde and Marc Vidal (who went off injured last weekend) are all unavailable, so 20-year-old Ahamada - whose first task after coming on as a substitute against Rennes last weekend was to pick the ball out of the net when the visitors scored a penalty - will make his first senior start.

PSG will be confident in attack but are always liable to concede because they grant opponents so many scoring opportunities. Antoine Kombouare's side have kept just two clean sheets in their last 15 league games, so if Toulouse are just slightly more accurate than they were last weekend, when they twice hit the woodwork, the three-goal barrier should be broken.

Lille v Lyon - Sun, 20:00

There are three good reasons to oppose Ligue 1 leaders Lille when they host title rivals Lyon at Stade Metropole on Sunday night. The first is that Lille are experiencing their worst form since moving to the top of the table in December. Last weekend's 1-0 defeat at Montpelier was their first league loss since October 24 but no surprise considering how poorly they'd played in two of their previous three games (against Lens, 1-0, and Auxerre, 1-1). Lyon, in contrast, are in fabulous form: they put four past local rivals St Etienne (4-1) a fortnight ago and followed up with four more against Nancy (4-0) last weekend.

Fatigue is the second factor. Lille have played 39 games to Lyon's 34 this season. Just 18 outfield players have started league games for Lille, and four of those have started just once. Lyon coach Claude Puel has a larger pool of players to pick from so has been able to rest some of his more important players more regularly.

Lyon have had a couple more days to prepare for this game: they hosted Real Madrid in the Champions League (1-1) on Tuesday night, whereas Lille faced PSV Eindhoven away from home in the Europa League on Thursday night. Those extra couple of days of preparation may prove crucial when the sides take to the field.

The field is the third factor: it resembles a potato patch at the moment, which is a major handicap for a side like Lille who enjoy playing fast, precise football on the ground. Lyon prefer knocking the ball around, too, but have been excellent from set-pieces in the past few weeks as Yoann Gourcuff has finally found his range from corners and free-kicks. In a game where aerial accuracy might prove crucial, Lyon have the upper hand.

Lille are too short at [2.24] to win. Either lay the hosts at [2.26], or back Lyon +0&+0.5 Asian handicap at [2.02].

Best Bet: Lyon +0&+0.5 Asian handicap at Lille @ [2.02].
Other Recommended Bet: PSG v Toulouse over 2.5 goals @ [2.16].

PSG are always great value for entertainment and their dodgy defence means overs backers are rewarded. So have Toulouse got the attack to exploit them? Meanwhile, James Eastham fancies Lyon to cause Lille problems on a potato patch....

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