7.45pm Punchestown Tips & Betting Preview 28/04/2016

Noel Meade’s Tamlough Boy (12/1) was a course and distance winner on his debut back in December, when he went off at 8/1 and edged out the even-money favourite Blow By Blow (winner of the Champion Flat Race on Wednesday). After that race Noel Meade said he was the best bumper horse he had and he’d keep him in these races, so to see him out over Hurdles at Gowran Park a month later was a surprise. He was no match for the very promising Avenir D’Une Vie at Naas in a small field and the ground is a bit of a question mark but his debut form is up there with the market leaders and he’s a far better price so he’s worth siding with Nina Carberry booked.

The father-son team of Willie and Patrick Mullins will team up in this one, as Invitation Only (13/8) looks to make it three wins from three to begin his promising racing career. He was a €40,000 purchase for the Andrea and Graham Wylie team in 2014 and went on to comfortably win on his debut from a 6/1 starting price last year. The five year old didn’t make his seasonal reappearance until last month, when he went off as the odds-on favourite and dominated a modest field at Navan. This will be his stiffest test so far and he’s a short price given he may or may not cope with two miles on better ground.

First Figaro (3/1) may have finished ninth in the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham, but Dermot Weld will have been encouraged by the six year old’s consistency throughout this season. He was part of the thrilling finish in this race at last years festival, losing out by a short head to the strong favourite Champers On Ice, who went on to finish a very close third in the Albert Bartlett at Cheltenham. He won his next race at Galway as the odds-on favourite, before coming second to the heavily backed Lucky Pass at Leopardstown in December. The ground and trip won’t be a problem but he is far more exposed than those around him in the market and has managed just one win in five starts.

Jess Harrington has been enjoying a brilliant festival so far and Sunni May (7/1) has looked like a promising flat runner in her short career so far. He was second to recent Cheltenham festival runner Castello Sforza on debut and went on to claim a win on his third start, beating odds-on favourte Some Neck and fellow entrant Blast Of Koeman (12/1) by a comfortable margin. He was a close third in a four horse race on his last outing, losing out to yesterdays Champion Flat winner Blow By Blow, but he may lack the turn of pace needed to win this race.