Punchestown Festival tips: Johnny Ward’s bets for day two

It's another pretty epic day at Punchestown on Wednesday and I love to see Paul Nicholls represented in the big one, with Nicky Henderson sending a few contenders over, too.

Two of my three selections are in handicaps, with the Grade One action a little tricky, but mesmerising in terms of field size and quality.

Be lucky, and don't forget to watch every race live on Racing TV.

Conor O'Dwyer is one of the nicest guys in racing and the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree with his son Charlie, who was cutting little ice on the level but the jumps game is working out much better for him, and that's no surprise given his father's exploits in the saddle.

From 52 rides this season, he's managed a remarkable seven winners. None of those winners were sent off favourite and three were sent off at double-figure odds.

Guiri won easily at the Punchestown Festival last year and his run at Naas in March was absolutely perfect, with a view to being prepped for this.

Jessica Harrington's horses are in great form, too.

It was odd to see this six-year-old chalked up at 8-1 with one firm after Monday's declarations. Sadly, that price has gone, but he still appeals each-way. He emerged as a big contender for the Albert Bartlett when a staying-on second to Minella Cocooner at the Dublin Racing Festival and the form was nicely boosted at Cheltenham.

In a muddling race, he was travelling well two out, but made a bit of a mess of it and lost his chance, so it was really encouraging how he ran on.

He had a mild setback in the meantime and, unlike the Willie Mullins-trained runner, he comes here fresh plus did not have a hard race at Cheltenham.

Willie Mullins' is understandably a big fan of the excellent Sean O'Keeffe.

The Irish jockey rode hot favourites Concertista and Energumene for Mullins in Ireland this year before winning the Albert Bartlett for the stable on The Nice Guy at 18-1. He's a class act and Egality Mans could be that too in this company off a featherweight.

There's a bit of a concern about his Limerick effort but he was blowing hard post-race and he's open to far more improvement than these. He's clearly a graded horse not only running in a handicap, but almost off bottom weight.