Fox Can Rock Up at Leopardstown

The turf season comes to a close at Leopardstown on Saturday afternoon with the €100,000 November Handicap the big betting heat and Joe Murphy could be in for another rewarding day.

Murphy Back For More
All the placed horses from the Irish Cesarewitch are set to head to Foxrock this afternoon for the valuable 1m7f contest with just the winner, Laws Of Spin, absent from the first six home as Willie Mullins instead saddles the top weight Renneti who was an impressive winner at Naas a fortnight ago.

After taking home the Trigo Stakes from Leopardstown last week with 11/1 shot Flying Fairies, Joe Murphy is given the nod to saddle Swamp Fox to victory this weekend. The Galway Festival and Listowel Festival winner was third in the Irish Cesarewitch at the Curragh and although getting another 3lbs from the handicapper for that effort, he may well be suited by the ground and the track at Leopardstown.

He can defy that hike on his way to picking up another decent prize for his connections.

Tony Martin, who is in Melbourne ahead of the Emirates Melbourne Cup on Tuesday, is a formidable force in any of these races and Golden Spear and Artful Artist, who run under the same ownership, both warrant respect while Wakea could run well at a price.

But it is the four-year-old Swamp Fox with the excellent jockey booking of Wayne Lordan who is selected to oblige.

Tizzard’s on Cue
It’s hard to see Cue Card getting turned over as he returns to make his seasonal debut and tries to win the Charlie Hall Chase for a second season in a row.

The 10-year-old is odds on and takes on RSA Chase winner Blaklion but barring his end of season run at Punchestown last term he could hardly have been in better form throughout the campaign. He looks fairly good to justify his place in the market here.

At a bigger price on the same card though is the Rebecca Curtis-trained The Romford Pele. Unfortunately just seven go to post for the West Yorkshire Hurdle and that makes each-way betting much less attractive but it may be worth keeping the faith with the nine-year-old anyway.

Heading the market is the Grade One winning novice Ballyoptic who will undoubtedly prove tough to overturn

But the battle hardened The Romford Pele may well be able to expose any chink in the armour for in-form trainer and jockey Jonathan Moore.

A runner-up in a valuable handicap hurdle at Punchestown back in April was a decent run and he made a winning start to this season earlier in the month at Newton Abbot. At 7/1 he was just a horse who looked worth taking a chance with over the favourite.

Recommended Bets:
The Romford Pele – 2.45 Wetherby
Cue Card – 3.20 Wetherby
Swamp Fox – 4.15 Leopardstown

*Prices correct at time of publication.