3.40pm Punchestown Tips & Betting Preview 29/04/2016

Six years after winning this Hunters Chase as a 50/1 outsider, Shin A Vee (9/2) recaptured his crown, after coming second twice in the intervening years. He went off at 9/1 last year and traveled well throughout the race, pulling clear of the leading pack and staying on well to win by just over four lengths. He hasn’t raced since that victory, but he’s got good form when coming into a race fresh, so Dennis Cullen will be hopeful his 13 year old can make it a hat-trick of KFM Chase victories.

Hasty Times (10/1) is back for another crack at winning this race, after coming in a distant fourth last year, when well fancied in the build up and sixth in the 2014 renewal. Ross O’Sullivan’s eleven year old seems to be getting better as he has got older, with all his career wins coming in the last two years. However, all those victories have been in three mile point-to-point contests on ground with plenty of give, so the shorter trip and better ground here isn’t likely to help.

Another O’Sullivan chaser, at the other end of the age scale to look out for, will be Grangeclare Rosa (13/8). She may be the joint-youngest horse in the contest, but she notched up plenty of runs in her career, compared to some of the other entrants. She’s experimented with plenty of distances, with two and a half or three miles looking like her most effective trip and she’s also ran on pretty much every going you can imagine, enjoying plenty of good results on good ground along the way. She was pulled up after suffering badly on heavy ground last time, but she had claimed her maiden victory on her previous outing. Jamie Codd is one of the best amateur jockey’s around and he will be in the saddle for the third race in a row, she could prove to be a surprise winner.