'He can be hard to peg back in front' - Clonmel Tuesday Tips The Irish racing action on Tuesday comes from Clonmel, with an eight-race card beginning just after midday at the Co Tipperary venue. The second race on the card, due off at 12.35, is the William Hill Each Way Extra Challenge Series Handicap Hurdle, for horses rated no higher than 100. A maximum field of 16 are set to line up and we've assessed the contenders and picked out a pair to follow. NAP: Itsalongroad Next Best: Fernhill Fling Veteran Itsalongroad set to go well Plenty of these runners have their limitations well set and it could be that the veteran Itsalongroad has a major role to play on first start for new trainer David O'Sullivan. The 11-year-old gelding had winning form as recently as August with his previous handler, scoring over the minimum trip over fences at Tramore from a mark of 99. He had run good races both over hurdles, fences and on the Flat already this year, including when fifth at Tramore on his most recent hurdles appearance in April. He's rated just 89 in this code now and his rider, Shane O'Callaghan, can take off a further 5lb. He enjoys making his own running and can be hard to peg back in front. The Lawman gelding has twice before won on heavy ground in his career, so the forecast testing conditions won't be a concern here. He's had a break of just under two months while making the stable switch and appears to be on a very workable mark now for his first start for this team. Fernhill Fling a contender for Rothwell Top-weight No Big Deal should run well, the JP McManus-owned son of Zoffany has held his form nicely both on the level and over hurdles across recent months and there is no reason to suspect he won't be in the mix again. Meanwhile Oliver McKiernan saddles Chemdawg, a 12-race maiden over hurdles that finished third at Thurles recently dropped back in trip and sporting first-time blinkers. That aid is replaced now with cheekpieces but he could be a contender again. Fernhill Fling is another maiden over timber, 0-13 for Philip Rothwell, but he would have a chance of breaking his duck on his best form. He ran third at Wexford over a similar trip last October and occupied the same spot at Limerick in January of this year. Tiernan Power Roche was in the plate for that effort and returns now, claiming 3lb as his mount sports a new pair of blinkers. Both of those third-placed runs came on test ground (soft/heavy) and so, again, the forecast conditions are going to suit. He's operating from a basement mark of 75 now and if the headgear has a positive effect he is entitled to quickly leave behind his recent comeback run at Limerick, where he was never any sort of factor on his first outing in 211 days. He is a hit and miss character, with more misses than hits, but his charge list isn't as long as some of these rivals and the Highland Reel gelding could still have time on his side to make his mark in this sort of company.
