FAIRYHOUSE PREVIEW:LOCALLY TRAINED winners always resonate at Fairyhouse and Blueberry Boy can provide the north Co Dublin trainer Paul Stafford with a valuable success in today's big handicap chase.
Funnily enough, the statistics suggest if today’s Tattersalls Ireland Dan Moore Chase was run at Punchestown then Blueberry Boy would have an even better chance.
The 11-year-old has had four of his five career victories at Punchestown and has drawn a blank from five Fairyhouse starts. They include a run in this race two years ago when he unseated his rider.
However, the evidence also strongly suggests Blueberry Boy is at his best fresh and he hasn’t had a run since before Christmas when third to Golden Silver in the Hilly Way at Cork.
Before that he had won easily at Punchestown after a five month break, not the first time Stafford’s runner has managed that feat.
Blueberry Boy’s old rival Golden Silver is in again today after a sixth to Big Zeb in the Champion Chase and his inclusion keeps the weights down for the rest.
They include last year’s winner Perce Rock who represents the white hot Tommy Stack team as well as Psycho who was engaged yesterday. However, Blueberry Boy looks to tick a lot of boxes today and may represent a touch of value. The big hurdle event is the €90,000 Ladbrokes handicap in which champion trainer Willie Mullins has four hopefuls including Ruby Walsh’s mount C’est Ca who crashed out at the very first flight in the Martin Pipe race at Cheltenham.
It looks a desperately competitive heat but Jigalo comes here in winning form having landed a two mile flat race on the Dundalk all-weather 11 days ago and his jumps form ties in with most of these.
The black type feature is the Grade Two Bobbyjo Novice Hurdle and even though Rigour Back Bob has to concede weight to the six others due to having won three times over flights already he still should be a major player.
Those three victories were at two miles but Edward O’Grady has always maintained two and a half will suit the five-year-old more and in another stride at Cork last time Rigour Back Bob would have headed Footy Facts. Definitive Edge won three times last summer and is an interesting prospect on his return to action.
Cross Appeal was 12th in the Triumph at Cheltenham and has to concede weight all round in the Grade Three juvenile hurdle. He may not relish the very testing ground either and Big Game Hunter may be a value alternative to win his first jumps contest.
Nina Carberry teams up with Dun Doire in the hunters chase and a three mile plus slog in these conditions will be right up the street of this former Cheltenham festival winner.
