Down Royal Preview For Early Season Race Meeting

Down Royal Racecourse preview and tips for Tuesday’s seven-race afternoon Jumps card on January 21st

Down Royal hosts its latest race meeting on Tuesday afternoon with a very competitive seven-race card over the Jumps on offer for punters heading to the track. 

Racing gets underway at 12.40pm with a big field maiden hurdle over the two-mile and one furlong trip before the card comes to a close at 3.47pm with a three-mile handicap chase and ten horses are set to line up for the finale. 

Read below to discover the latest tips and a full preview of the Down Royal card on Tuesday courtesy of BoyleSports, who offer the latest Cheltenham odds ahead of the Festival in March. 

Down Royal’s card kicks off with a 17-runner maiden hurdle (12.40) for five-year-old horses and older, but while it is a big field, it looks to be all about one runner.

Karoline Banbou from the all-conquering Willie Mullins yard was a dual bumper winner in France and was a promising second after 13 months off at Naas five weeks ago and is sure to improve and go one better to justify strong market support. 

Summer Festival Of Racing Day in 2024 at Down Royal Racecourse – day two. (Photo by Press Eye.)

Race two of the afternoon (1.10) is a much smaller field of four taking on the novice hurdle, again for five-year-old runners and older. Half A Chance is given the narrow vote here having made a winning hurdles debut at Limerick in May, with Blue Mosque taken to fill the second spot for the Noel Meade team and complete the forecast. 

Albatala showed great improvement to finish second at this track earlier this month and has to be taken seriously in race three of Tuesday’s card (1.40) as a reproduction of that form could see her go one better.

The Henry De Bromhead-trained Lady Rose Hackett could be worth another look too having hit the frame in a trio of maiden hurdles prior to flopping on handicap debut at Leopardstown when last seen. 

A big field of 16 will taken on the 0-100 rated handicap hurdle at 2.10 with preference for Le Bugiste for trainer Gavin Cromwell, a winner on the Flat that is returning off a break and pitched into handicaps, while race five (2.42) can go the way of The Big Doyen from the Peter Fahey team, a good seventh of 13 in a novice chase last time out which was a very hot race in which he acquitted himself very well. 

The penultimate race on the Down Royal card sees a field of nine head to the start for the 0-100 rated handicap chase over the two-and-a-half mile trip (3.15), where Doonbeg Don is taken to make it two wins from two in the sphere having scored on his chase debut at Galway in October before heading back over hurdles but is now reverted back again to chasing. 

Finally, the card comes to a close with the three-mile handicap chase to bring proceedings to a close at 3.47, with preference in the finale heading the way of Read To Return for trainer Tony Martin, a creditable third in a handicap hurdle at Fairyhouse 20 days ago that is sent chasing here and is backed to add to his maiden chasing success at Killarney in October 2023. 

Down Royal selections – Tuesday

12.40 – Karoline Banbou

1.10 – Half A Chance

1.40 – Albatala

2.10 – Le Bugiste

2.42 – The Big Doyen

3.15 – Doonbeg Don

3.47 – Read To Return