Irish horse racing tips: Johnny Ward's best bets for Saturday

It was telling how many times Willie Mullins smiled for the launch of the Jumps season at Closutton earlier this week, and he's clearly happy with how things look for 2022/2023.

He is not rushing his stars back and, as expected, does not have many runners at Galway on Saturday, but I have gone for selections from three powerful yards, including one really making waves.

Be lucky.

There’s no doubt he's been disappointing over hurdles so far, but he nearly won two days in a row on the Flat during the summer, including at the Galway Festival, and I like how he kept on under pressure at Punchestown when last seen.

He continues to attract market support ahead of each run, and I think he's got a good chance here.

This five-year-old bolted up on debut at Navan and was sent off at 7-2 against Facile Vega at Leopardstown in February.

He was a shade disappointing there but should win this if he's as good as connections think he is, especially as the testing ground looks against classy Flat performer Baby Zeus, who disappointed on his hurdles debut.

It's hard to see this stamina test suiting Merlin Giant but, in fairness, there are lots of potential rivals here to Espanito Bello who, in my opinion, is essentially a good thing if he can produce his best form.

We've not seen that for some time, but he shaped well on his only start this year, and with Barry Connell having a ridiculous strike-rate this season, he's worth chancing off a declining mark under a 5lb conditional who is thriving.