Johnny Ward's top tips for Sligo on Sunday

After a tough week of Punchestown, Sligo's opening card of the campaign almost seems like a relief.

With the local Rovers holding champions Shamrock Rovers in Friday night's football, the Gaelic football team hosting Roscommon Saturday and the racing on Sunday, it's a lively sporting weekend in the Yeats County.

And there look to be a couple of nice bets on the card.

Tronador has been no great shakes on the Flat – he’s rated just 51 – but he’s a certainty based on his hurdles mark of 136. In his defence, he’s had few attempts on the level, ran to around 60 in Britain and was backed into 3-1 last summer when last seen on the Flat when an eye-catching fifth. Bar traffic problems he should go really close.

It's the guts of a 550km-round trip from Paddy Twomey's base with one horse today – not cheap with modern fuel prices – but this may mean nothing in terms of Rosscarbery. Thankfully, there are reasons less flimsy to think that this horse is a good thing.

It seems that the owner has switched a few horses from John Murphy to Twomey. The latter has already won with the same owner’s Earl Of Tyrone, following the success of Rosscarbery at Dundalk.

Twomey has a 27 per cent strike-rate in Ireland. Former trainer Murphy, who runs a very successful commercial operation, has an eight per cent strike-rate in that time.

As such, it will hardly be a surprise if Rosscarbery improves. In nine starts for Murphy, the Sea The Stars filly failed to win, but she ran good races, mainly over middle distances.

Even so, Twomey was happy to drop her to a mile on her Dundalk stable debut and punters were happier to back her into 11-10 favourite, and happier again as she romped home. She’s up in trip on Sunday and looks potentially thrown in.