Owen Goulding’s 1,155-1 Dublin Racing Festival double after 1065-1 winner last week

This Saturday’s action is going to be something special. We’re treated to the first day of the Dublin Racing Festival, with Leopardstown hosting four Grade 1 races. Sandown also hosts an all chase card, which is headlined by the Grade 1 Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase.

We’ll have horse racing tips for all the action, but I’ll be focusing on the mudlarks. After posting a 1065-1 winning double seven days ago, I’m hoping to repeat the feat with some soft ground lovers.

Leopardstown has plenty of competitive action and as a result, there is a lot of value to be hunted down. You can find my selections below, and with some luck, hopefully we can see a big run from both!

2.45 Leopardstown – Mitchouka (33/1)

He’s only scored once over fences, but Mitchouka has run to a high standard and sits on an exploitable mark for Gearoid O’Loughlin.

Previously trained by Gordon Elliott, he made a winning debut for O’Loughlin at Thurles in February 2020. He defeated Arvico Bleu that day, despite being hampered at a crucial stage, and went on to contest the Northern Trust at the Festival, where he acquitted himself well to finish sixth.

Both his runs this season have come over further than today’s distance, latterly a three-mile attempt at Leopardstown. He was never involved on that occasion and a return to two miles can help matters, especially in a strongly run event.

He remains on a dangerous rating, having gone well at the Festival off three pounds higher. A winner on heavy ground in France on the flat, all of his rules victories in Ireland have come on soft ground.

He’ll be posted at the back early, before attempting to use his sizeable engine to fly at the leaders in the closing stages. His early price of 33/1, given all the positives, does seem excessive.

3.50 Leopardstown – Tiger Tap Tap (33/1)

Back in November, I wrote an article about a horse Willie Mullins believed was well handicapped. His exact words were: “I think he’s a horse who is well handicapped. Watch out for him in a nice handicap over Christmas“. That horse was Tiger Tap Tap.

Having been absent since July, we did see him in the festive period, finishing sixth over course and distance. Travelling powerfully in rear, he had a mountain to climb approaching the second last. He did make plenty of progress, before his effort flattened out after the last.

Given that his record after absences now reads 2406, it’s fair to assume that he can take a step forward from that effort now he’s race-fit. The forecast rain is also in his favour, having won all three of his starts on soft ground or worse.

He’s likely to be held up early and will need luck in running, but this looks set to be run at an end to end gallop, which will help matters. It’s rare to see a Mullins’  horse at this sort of price and I certainly don’t think he warrants it.

If you back any of our selections you can watch them live on the free Racing Post app or racingpost.com. Simply log in to one of your bookmaker accounts and click ‘Watch live’ on the racecards