Make A Killing On Killaro In The Kim Muir

As regular readers of the blog will know, Adrian Murray is a trainer I have huge respect for. He doesn’t have many horses, but he places them very well and I think he could have a very well handicapped horse in Killaro Boy. This very lightly raced 9yo son of Mr Dinos looks assured of a run in the Kim Muir off a mark of 135, and I think he has a right chance upped in trip.
 

Killaro Boy is a crazy price for the Kim Muir at 66/1.

He made a big impression on me with the manner of his win last season on good to yielding ground at Fairyhouse, just his second career start on decent ground. His only previous run on better than soft came in a point to point on his debut and he hacked up that day too by 5L. He scored by twice that distance in that Novice Chase at Fairyhouse (20f gd/yld) and the way he was careering away at the finish suggests that he could be even better over further.

On his previous start he showed his versatility regarding ground by recording a pillar to post success in a handicap chase at Gowran on bottomless ground over 20f off a mark of 113. A mistake at the last wasn’t enough to stop him from winning and he kept on dourly to score by 2L. He also managed to pick up a race over timber at Fairyhouse in 2016, and in total he has won 3 of his 9 starts under rules.

He returned to action with a pipe opener at Gowran back in January, and though he was well beaten he was likely to have needed the outing badly from a fitness perspective. That should have put him spot on for a Spring campaign and Murray has him entered in the Kim Muir and also the Irish Grand National. His Irish rating is 134 over fences, and the English handicapper has been quite kind and only given him an extra pound, so he heads to Cheltenham off 135.

Young Barry Browne is 2/2 on Killaro Boy, riding him for his win at Fairyhouse and also when he won his point to point. He will likely keep the ride and it is always good to have a jockey on board that knows the horse well. From a handicapping perspective I think a mark of 135 should be well within his capabilities on a couple of pieces of his form. He had Phil’s Magic nearly 13L behind at Fairyhouse and that fella is now rated 129 and was 6th off that rating in the Paddy Power at Leopardstown.

Call It Magic was just under 10L behind him in 2nd that day and he went on to win two chases afterwards, including a handicap easily off 132 and he is now rated 140. So, I think on that evidence that Killaro Boy is feasibly handicapped and he is not ground dependent. The only slight worry is the step up in trip, but he looks like a stayer to me and he has a 3 mile win in a point to point in the book. I think he is criminally overpriced at 66/1 and at that price he rates as one of the best e/w bets of the week.

STEVOS’ SELECTION: KIM MUIR CHASE: KILLARO BOY E/W 66/1 NRNB