5:25 Gowran Park Tips

Calzaghi was mighty unlucky in reining in the leader the last day. Came from last position, weaving and getting the splits, but just denied. Extra yardage will suit.

Duke Of Leggagh has won 6 times on the flat and over hurdles. Five of those wins have come on soft or worse ground, so he won't mind the forecast rain. His last win was at Bellewstown on 1st October when he won an Apprentice handicap off 69. Raised 8 lbs, he still ran well to be 5th of 13 at Roscommon last week. He is off the same mark here but again looks sure to go well and is a good EW bet with 5 places on offer.

50/50 gamble with the ground, but K Kennedy takes over after the duo won together at Curragh in September. Four pounds worse, but place chance.

Paradise Lost ran second in this race last year. That came only a week after winning at Roscommon. This season, he had three runs over hurdles in the early part of the year, then returned from a layoff with a down-the-field run in a ladies' race. He should be sharper for that recent run, and he should be fresher than last year.

Day Trader looks a likely candidate. 33-1 second over hurdles on debut for Tony Martin yard. 4yo by Expert Eye out of a French-bred mare who won two races on soft ground over 1m4f on the Flat in France. Colin Keane booked. Makes first Flat start for this yard, having last been seen in Listed Hurdle (poor effort) at Listowel. Won on penultimate hurdling start. Fairly stiff mark, but he's a lot less exposed than some of these, and French form suggests these conditions are ideal. Likely to be popular with the betting market.

Alexa Next is making her handicap debut here and may just be the fly in the ointment. She improved noticeably at Killarney recently, and from what evidence we have, it looks like deep ground may not be a problem. It's competitive, of course, but with several places available, she is just about worth a small each way.

Was well backed in a better race than this when last seen in August and now makes a stable debut for a new trainer. Drops another couple of pounds and has a fledgling jockey on top claiming 10lb. Worth small each-way stakes for 5 places.