Opening day can be Very special for Jess and Barry

IT should be a great week ahead in Ballybrit, with the Connacht Hotel Handicap for amateur riders the big race on the opening evening

It's ultra competitive and there's not a lot from top to bottom in terms of weights. Cougar is very interesting each-way for Padraig Roche under Derek O'Connor in the green and gold JP McManus silks.

It's also interesting that Patrick Mullins has chosen to ride Lot Of Joy out of his father Willie's four runners, but my main fancy for the race is The Very Man for Jessica Harrington, with Barry O'Neill taking the ride.

He's a very decent hurdler, stays really well and I think this trip around Galway will really suit him. He's a great each-way price in this very competitive handicap.

In the opener, Mystical Power is a short-priced favourite for Willie Mullins (inset) with Mark Walsh on board.

The reason he is such a short-priced favourite is because he won his bumper well and is a son of Annie Power out of Galileo, but I'm going to take her on with Hypotenus for John McConnell, who was pulled up in the Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March.