Follow the build-up to the final day of the November Meeting at Cheltenham.
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Third time lucky?
1154: With Andy Asquith sent to Bahrain to cover the Bahrain Trophy, Andrew McLaren stepped into his shoes in mid-week to provide the Weekend View.
Andrew put up two selections and one of them was Il Ridoto who obliged in the Paddy Power Gold Cup and the other runs in the Three Counties Christmas Handicap Chase. Given I turned the page without dwelling on this four runner race I’ll hand over to Andrew and the case he made for siding with Third Time Lucki.
Hopefully it will be a good day for Fergal O’Brien though, as I can’t resist backing the talented THIRD TIME LUCKI making his debut for the yard. Sold from Dan Skelton for £190,000, he was rated 153 in his pomp when knocking heads with the likes of Edwardstone in graded novice chases and although he’s not quite the force of old, he showed the fire still burns when winning at Sandown last year before an excellent fourth in the Grand Annual, and his effort there can be marked up given he was the only one of the first seven to get involved from the rear.
That added to his terrific record at this track – his record over fences at Cheltenham reads 114 – and he’s another who will really enjoy bouncing off the sound surface this weekend. He’s usually dropped out and delivered late, but he should get the race run to suit with Matata hopefully there to take them along at a good gallop, and with Jonathan Burke already booked, I’d be amazed if his new trainer didn’t have him primed for his stable debut at a meeting he often targets.
I was surprised to see him priced up as the 16/1 outsider of the field with so much in his favour in a race which could cut up quite a bit by Sunday afternoon, and hopefully he can make it first time lucky for Fergal O’Brien.
It’s a blinder
1146: It may be a low key start but the mallardjewellers.com Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase promises plenty.
The race recently changed from a conditions contest to a handicap and last year’s race saw Ginny’s Destiny take the spoils. There are one or two, at least, in today’s field which could have realistic hopes of progressing as far and it should be an interesting watch.
I was a little surprised to see Leader Of The Pack as a Punting Pointers selection. He has a big reputation which he didn’t really live up to over hurdles but he was bought to be a chaser and this should be his game; perhaps last season’s relatively modest efforts have left him well handicapped for this switch.
Primoz makes the journey from Scotland and was the one I was most interested in when he was 5/1 but the son of Westerner was quickly cut to around 10/3 and I can leave him alone at those odds. He is one from one over fences and was awarded a ‘P’ by Timeform, he should appreciate stepping up in distance.
Peaky Boy is three from four under Rules and is another looking to exploit a potentially lenient handicap mark now going chasing. The Henderson team is clicking into gear and Peaky Boy seems very solid at the top of the betting, a big run is clearly expected.
I wasn’t in a rush to rule out Westerninthepark either. He did well over hurdles for Anthony Charlton, ending with a fine fifth in the EBF Final, but was a wide margin winner on debut over fences and for Olly Murphy. That race was nowhere near as deep as this and he’s 9lbs higher but he jumped well and the experience will, of course, come in handy while there’s no reason to believe that he won’t continue to progress.
It’s a rare old puzzle but a race in which Timeform have played their Tip of the Day.
Both Nicky Henderson and Ben Pauling have interesting chasing debutants in this novice handicap with Peaky Boy and Leader In The Park respectively, but Lucinda Russell’s Primoz marked himself out as one to very much keep on side when successful on his own chasing debut. From just a handful of starts over hurdles, Primoz bookended last season with a couple of wins at Ayr and made a perfect start to his chasing career in a handicap at Wetherby last month. After jumping well, Primoz asserted on the run-in for a two-length win over subsequent winner Pay The Piper but won with far more authority than the bare margin suggests. That earned Primoz the ‘large P’ symbol denoting that he’s open to considerable improvement stepping up in trip here, heading the Timeform weight-adjusted ratings by 2 lb.
Ace in the pack
1129: The Cheltenham card kicks off with the Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court Hospice Maiden Hurdle. When betting opened Irish challenger Whimsy was favourite but there has been a steady trickle of money for the Skeltons’ Ace Of Spades who is now odds-on.
His form received a boost when Junker d’Allier, a horse he beat by four lengths in a Warwick bumper, won over hurdles this week, his second success over timber. Ace Of Spades has had two hurdles runs, going close last time, and looks to be getting better with experience which was a similar story in bumpers where he took three attempts to open his account.
Whimsy has finished runner-up five times in seven runs over hurdles which isn’t a profile which fills you with confidence but it does give her leading form claims. Her jockey will carry the colours of Rita Shah who enjoyed plenty of good days with the late Oliver Brady whose celebrations (see above) provided no end of entertainment.
Ace Of Spades holds Country Park on collateral form with Junker d’Allier and none of the remainder look too obvious on paper although Maghlaak was rated in the high 80s on the level which is a decent level of ability to take hurdling.
It’s a fairly low key start to the day I would suggest.
Good Gordon
1111: Gordon Elliott dominated proceedings at Navan yesterday and is represented in their opener at 1135 (a race he won last year with Kala Conti) by Wendrock who makes his debut for Gigginstown after two runs on the flat for Lucinda Russell, not the profile you might expect.
He’s 9/2 in a competitive betting heat which suggests that this initial experience may be needed but no doubt Elliott will find himself in the winner’s enclosure somewhere along the way, he does run half the field in the Troytown after all.
The odds-on Qualimita represents Elliott and Robcour and it could be a big day for the owners whose exciting Slade Steel makes his debut over fences at 1505. There’s a good deal to look forward to today.
Looking back awhile though and Gary Moore, who trains Royal Way in partnership with son Josh, has won the Greatwood before with that victory coming back in 2008 courtesy of Numide.
Do you remember the days when smart flat horses routinely went hurdling? There aren’t so many of them now but this race did suit them given the emphasis on speed and Numide was decent in France having been a short price for the Group One Grand Prix de Paris before joining the Sussex handler.
There’s a fair bit we don’t agree on
1056: Those are the opening words to the Punting Pointers take on the Greatwood Hurdle with ‘Dysart Enos the main sticking point’.
She won some pretty soft races over hurdles prior to being ruled out of her spring engagements, winning at 1/7, 5/6 and 1/9, but I do quite like her defeat of Beat The Bat at this track in December. The second is a fair sort and had some promising performers behind when winning at Ascot and she comfortably accounted for him. She looks pretty straightforward and I’m in no rush to take her on given her smart bumper form for all that this is a different discipline.
I’m happier to oppose Burdett Road who may be more in need of the cards falling right and top of the short-list is Be Aware whose trainer has proved one of the best target handlers around and who has enjoyed some big moments in two mile handicap hurdles at Cheltenham. He’s around 7/1 which isn’t a very exciting each-way price and I know plenty who wouldn’t consider him an each-way bet at that price. He finished second in the same Sandown race as last year’s winner and looks a really, really solid contender.
Trying to get a little funkier with the prices and Teddy Blue, not the most fluent of hurdlers, has slipped to a nice mark and makes his debut for Harry Derham whose exploits with new recruits has been well advertised. He has some form to his name which entitles him to consideration. Ben Linfoot’s selection Royal Way is also well worth another look, the progressive juvenile was being aimed at the Fred Winter only to be eliminated but he did win a decent prize at Ascot not long after to provide a measure of compensation. He’s had a nice sighter at the track last month.
That quartet will do me as far as forecast combinations go although it might be worth leaving it late to see if there’s any money for the remainder, notably the two Emmet Mullins trained runners.
Charyn finishes fifth
1030: Away from Cheltenham there has already been some significant racing with the Grade One Mile Championship staged at Kyoto in Japan. It featured top European miler Charyn, ridden by Ryan Moore on this occasion, but he could only finish fifth after a slow start proved costly.
The easy winner was last year’s neck second Soul Rush whose jockey, Taisei Danno, said: “In the end I couldn’t hear any thundering hooves from behind, only the cheering crowd.”
Below is the race report from the Japan Racing website along with quotes from Roger Varian and Moore.
‘Sent off third pick, the only overseas contender Charyn missed his break and was forced to race behind in third from the rear. After shifting far out entering the straight, the four-year-old chased the frontrunners with the second fastest stretch speed but had too much ground to make up and finished a neck behind the race favorite in fifth.
“He ran a very good race but he was slow coming out of the gate so the first furlong cost him in the end— you get behind and wide around whole the field. After the start he wasn’t able to secure a good position and afterwards, it was always going to be hard work for him—he finished strong, so I thought the horse performed very well—in defeat he proved himself to be very good horse.
“We have to accept the results although it is disappointing because we came here to win. But it has been a fantastic year for this horse to win three mile G1 races in Europe and we wanted to finish with another win here but it did not happen. It still was a very good race—in my opinion, just the start cost him,” commented trainer Roger Varian.
“He couldn’t make a good jump at the start and had to race behind, but despite the disadvantages, he gave a terrific effort at the straight,” added jockey Ryan Moore.’
The best handicapped horse in Britain and Ireland
1018: Hello again.
I hope everyone is well and looking forward to the final day of the November Meeting. It looked a bit bleak and damp at the track by the time the last was run on Saturday but the sun is shining brightly, at least where I am, this morning and order has been restored.
Just the two non-runners through so far today with the going remain more or less the same through the three days as John Pullin no doubt explains in the video above. The feature race is the Greatwood Handicap Hurdle and it promises to be an excellent renewal with favourite Dysart Enos described in a few places as ‘the best handicapped horse in Britain and Ireland’.
She’s priced accordingly at 9/4 but this is far from an open goal as she faces a very different test on this move into handicap company plus there’s the presence of Burdett Road who has taken his flat form to a new level since he was last over hurdles and he, too, could be well handicapped if transferring that level of improvement back over obstacles.
It is far from a two horse race as you can tell from a glance of our various tipping columns although both Punting Pointers and Value Bet have alighted on the same outsider……the former’s column has just been published and can be read by clicking on the image below.
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