SUNDAY WEEKENDER

14:40 Leopardstown A very open maiden hurdle awaits us in the first of today’s two selections. A case can be made for a plethora of these here but I’m hoping I’ve pinpointed one that may have slipped through the net. Noel Meade has been around the game long enough and has bagged numerous big race winners so a maiden hurdle is certainly within his ability as a trainer. He saddles Gettysburg Address who, despite form figures that show just one placed effort in four starts, are better than they look. A fifth and fourth placed finishes in races with over twenty runners as well as a second placed effort looks decent efforts. The horse will be more experienced than most of today’s rivals and looks to be a very consistent performer with a decent race attitude. Trainer Meade has bagged a few winners in the past fortnight and at a double figure price looks a worthy each way player. Harold Peto and Youcannotbeserious are likely improvers and worthy of their spots at the head of the market. They both put in eye catching efforts in their previous starts and are likely to go close once again however I just couldn’t side with a short priced runner in a race that looks so mightily competitive. Gettysburg Address (E/W)

16:00 Huntingdon Our second selection comes from the eight race card at Huntingdon. Where we take in the feature Cambridgeshire National as the main race of the day. It’s rare that you see a horse return to the course the day after a run but that’s exactly what Goulanes is doing here. He fell yesterday in a much more competitive contest. He travelled well enough throughout the race and now with the additional help of Noel Fehily in the saddle he could go better than his price suggests. The main danger is undoubtedly the Oliver Sherwood trained favourite Blameitalonmyroots but a relatively inconsistent performer who now has to contend with a seven pound rise in weight may be too much to overcome. Cyclop is a classier type based on his hurdling career but now over chase fences hasn’t been the force of old however with Aidan Coleman in the saddle he could go close. Goulanes (E/W) – NAP