UK Horse Racing Tips

The K Club Handicap (3.35) at the Curragh on Sunday revolves, largely, around Allegio, who defied a 10lb rise in the weights when winning a Cork handicap by half the track in April and has a further 13lb rise to contend with this time. Considering he was beaten off handicap marks of 74, 79 and 82 last season, Denis Hogan’s 5-year-old has clearly struck a rich vein of form but, while he would almost certainly have won off today’s mark of 101 last time, whether he’s up to the task in this much more competitive race must be open to question.

Under the circumstances, I prefer to side with Claregate Street who, despite a 9lb rise for winning a fillies’ handicap the all-weather at Dundalk, carries a relative “featherweight” of just 8st 4lb. Marc Halford’s filly made up into a consistent handicapper last season and, although she races off a career-high mark here, won in convincing style last time and may still be open to further improvement on her return to turf. She appears indifferent to underfoot conditions and, although she’s actually 1lb out of the handicap proper, she shouldn’t be unduly inconvenienced, especially with jockey Conor Hoban able to ride at 8st 4lb, as he did at Dundalk.

Selection: Curragh 3.35 Claregate Street to win 5/1

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