Gibney's Mare Can Run A Cracker At Navan

Irish flat racing comes from Navan tomorrow, and it isn't bad fare considering the time of year. The horse that catches my eye tomorrow is a mare that followers of this blog will be familiar with (tipped up here when she won) The Nutcracker, trained by North Meath man Tom Gibney goes in the lucky last at 5.30 and she looks to have a decent chance.

Tom Gibney has been having a decent little run in recent weeks and he is a trainer that does terrifically well with a relatively small string. He  had 2 placed and 1 win from 5 runners in August, and followed that up with 1 win and a place from 4 runners in September. His stable star Lion Na Bearnai has given him his biggest win yet with the Irish Grand National back in 2012, and Orpheus Valley took a valuable handicap at the Punchestown. Those grand old servants aren't getting any younger now though, and he will be hoping the likes of The Nutcracker and To Choose can follow in their stablemates' hoofprints.

The Nutcracker has looked a pretty talented mare over hurdles after failing to pull up any trees on her first few flat runs. She is now rated 117 over timber, and her shrewd trainer exploited a much lower flat handicap mark of 47 over course and distance on her penultimate run. She won easy that day and the handicapper took a dim view, raising her to 62, a full 15lbs higher.

She ran off her new mark back at Navan last time out but she never managed to get involved, finishing well down the field. However, this quirky mare takes a bit of getting used to, and it was Wayne Lordan's first time in the saddle last time. Hopefully he will have learnt plenty from that outing, and it is worth remembering that it took Andrew Lynch a couple of goes before he managed to win on her over timber.

She has been dropped a pound since her last run too, which will be a little bit of a help, and the fact she is a couple of pounds out of the handicap isn't that big of a worry. It looks a competitive enough heat for the time of year, but The Nutcracker is getting stacks of weight from those in the top half of the field and if the ground eases from good to firm that could be an even bigger help. Tom Gibney will be eager to get his hands on some of the decent prize money on offer here, and at odds of 9/1 The Nutcracker is definitely worth a few quid each way.

STEVOS' SELECTION: 5.30 NAVAN-THE NUTCRACKER 9/1 (E/W).