Our resident tipster’s good run of form continued as two of his three Nap selections hit the target at Thurles during the final fixture before Christmas.

There may be those who might scoff at plumping for odds-on shots, but the bottom line is it amounts to more money in the kitty with which to dabble over the epic days ahead.

Rigour Back Bob, as expected, outstayed his rivals – the Dessie Hughes trained Stonemaster in particular – by two lengths in what were gluepot conditions. Those same conditions were, The Guvnor feels, the cause of Mourad’s shock defeat in the following heat. The Sinndar gelding simply didn’t handle the going as well as Chicago Grey from the in-form yard of Gordon Elliot. The grey by Luso has now won three on the bounce since transferring from Eric McNamara’s while the runner up should still be kept in mind for races in the spring if we ever get decent weather and dry ground!

Nina Carberry came up trumps in what turned out to be the finale – the two chases were again abandoned – when Cottage Star (6/4f) endorsed pre race confidence when getting home two and a half lengths in front of the heavily backed Go Gar (Katie Walsh).

Ella Watson was a non runner in the 2:05 while the race Battlefront was to go in was one of those abandoned.

Out of eleven tips so far: 4 Wins, 3 Placed, 4 Unplaced.

On three €10 stakes to win today, The Guvnor's tips cleared a net profit of €21.10. To date, on the same assumption of a €10 win bet on each race, he is showing a net profit of €2.80

* St Stephen’s Day selections will appear as soon as declarations have been released.


The Guvnor...