Irish racing tips: Johnny Ward's best bets at Cork on Saturday

I had the pleasure of spending some time in Counties Kerry and Cork in recent days, and when visiting the holy church at Gougane Barra (after which the Michael Halford-trained steed was named), the rain was pretty heavy.

I think it is safe to say we are edging into proper winter ground now, and stamina will be key at Cork. Here are two selections, one trained in County Kerry, and you can watch every race live on Racing TV. Good luck!

The gamble on this horse in an ordinary maiden chase certainly lit up Thurles in early November!

It looked like everything had been executed perfectly up until they came into the straight for the final time and the son of Imperial Monarch found next to nothing.

It was still a decent run, though, and he was clearly fancied to win. I'm not even sure he has to improve much on it to win this, either, so is worth siding with.

It was no surprise that this nine-year-old was well-fancied at Limerick in a race very few got into.

He did shape very well there and runs here in what looks a winnable race off the same mark.

Given his hurdles form, he surely only has to jump adequately to win off this rating, and we certainly know he can jump.