2023 Leopardstown Novices Hurdle Betting Tips

Barry Connell’s best chance of landing a victory at the Leopardstown Festival might be in this novices’ hurdle, with Good Land lining up for a trainer who will be looking to land a victory for a smaller stable. The seven-year-old will return to the same racecourse that saw the runner land an eight-length victory in a Maiden Hurdle over two miles and four furlongs on 29 December.

Previously to this, the horse unseated his rider at Fairyhouse although perhaps he’s a strong contender now that the jumping appears to be in order. Hiddenvalley Lake is a less-experienced runner but trading at similar betting odds and that’s partly down to the fact that Henry de Bromhead trains a horse who is likely to be ridden by Rachael Blackmore.

In a Maiden Hurdle on 12 November 2022, Blackmore steered the charge to a victory at Naas, with the same combination of runner and rider landing the win at Cork when triumphing by eight lengths. Much comes down to how progressive this horse happens to be although there are some good each-way prospects available.

Sandor Clegane runs for trainer Paul Nolan and there was a very smart performance in the Connolly's RED MILLS Irish EBF Auction Maiden Hurdle when the six-year-old was able to win by twelve lengths. However, the horse only finished second in his previous outing at Galway and the horse has only won two of his six career performances.

Journey With Me is the most likely winner of the Nathaniel Lacy & Partners Solicitors Novice Hurdle according to the leading racing bookies, with the horse having recently won a Maiden Hurdle at Leopardstown Racecourse when being sent off at betting odds of 3/1. The six-year-old is ridden by Rachael Blackmore and it will be interesting to see whether the horse can retain its unbeaten status.

Hollow Games was also unbeaten in five races coming into the New Year, although the six-year-old was unable to preserve that record in the recent Lawlor's Of Naas Novice Hurdle when finishing third. It was no disgrace to finish behind the bookmaker betting favourite Ginto who was also part of the Gordon Elliott stable, while Grand Jury separated the two horses on that particular occasion over two miles and four furlongs.

Interestingly, Grand Jury is trading at a much bigger price at betting odds of 6/1 for this race and that will attract the each-way betting money. Henry de Bromhead is likely to regard this horse as second string in comparison to Journey With Me, although there had been a Maiden Hurdle victory before finding Ginto too good.

There are nine horses who are currently entered into the Nathaniel Lacy & Partners Solicitors Novice Hurdle and that means that each-way betting odds are likely to cover the first three although some bookmakers might pay out on four places, especially as this is the opening race of the Dublin Festival.

With this in mind, perhaps Eric Bloodaxe might be a popular selection, with the Gigginstown-owned horse a year older than the front three in the betting market and there is plenty to recommend a horse that is trained by Joseph O’Brien. The horse finished well behind the successful Ginto when the pair were heading the betting market for the Grade 2 Navan Novice Hurdle, although he is still respected by the layers.

There was a more recent victory on heavy ground in the Lyons Of Limerick Jaguar Land Rover Novice Hurdle and that Grade 2 triumph suggests that another big run could come from a runner who can draw on plenty of experience due to being one of the older runners in the field.