Cheltenham Chat...A Round Up

10 Days to go!

Its getting seriously close now to the Cheltenham Festival...less than 2 wees to go till arguably the single greatest day in jumps racing with 4 Grade 1 races on the opening day of the Festival and plenty more to come throughout the week. In this blog I'll round up some of the action and chat from this week, some good gossip and some of the best bookie offers for us punters to lap up!

Preview Night Gossip

Always take information you hear at these preview nights with a pinch of salt; they are great fun and you hear all sorts of chat but a lot of the time the pundits do play to the audience! Still here are a few lines I've heard from the last week:

• Not a preview night as such but Jonny Burke nominates Grand Gesture in a 3 mile handicap race at the festival as his best bet (Thanks to the Final Furlong for this great interview)
• Another cracker from the FF Pod; a top interview with Rich Ricci who nominated his Cheltenham lucky 15 as Faugheen, Annie Power, Champagne Fever and....Blood Cotil.
• Davy Russell would 'walk to Cheltenham in my(my being Davy) underpants top ride Coneygree' and thinks he should go to the RSA. He also wouldn't swap Lord Windermere for anything in the Gold Cup

Will we see this man in his underpants??

• The Druids Nephew has been touted round a few of these previews already in the handicaps.
• Tony McCoy says Jezki is his best chance at the festival, and he won't retire at the end of it!

General Cheltenham News

Now some general info and chat about horses, riders and races at the festival

• The Young Master goes for the RSA and Barry Geraghty rides. The trainer and jockey have a great strike rate when lining up together, ignore the highly progressive horse at your peril.
• Sam Twiston-Davis will ride Blaklion for NTD in the Albert Bartlett. I guess Nige wants the best jockey, and sentimentally his son, on his horse in the big occasion despite not having ridden him in public over hurdles for a while. Also young Ryan Hatch wouldn't be able to use his valuable claim on Blaklion in this race as it is a Grade 1.
• Nigel TD also thinks that The New One should be joint favorite for the Champion Hurdle, not too sure Nigel! Watching last year's race back I really don't think TNO was an unlucky loser; OK he was unfortunate to get seriously checked by the sad fall of Our Conor mid race but this only served to stop him getting involved in the cut throat battle at the front of the race. This meant that TNO could run on past a tired Fly in the latter moments but to say he would have won without being checked in running is a serious shout and not one I agree with.
• Sam TD rates Sire Collonges as his best chance of the festival...in the Cross Country race!
• Plenty of money has come for Annie Power in the World Hurdle. With More of That definitely our of the race (news we heard at the start of the race) could Willie be tempted to let Glens Melody win the Mares race and let Annie have another go at the World Hurdle?
• Noel Fehily will ride Zarkandar in the World Hurdle, leaving the prize mount on Rock on Ruby up for Grabs. However McCoy has said he will ride At Fishers Cross if he runs in the race, Ruby Walsh could be on Annie Power....so who will get this top spare?
• The Tullow Tank heads for the JLT
• Art of Payroll, given good ground, will go for the novice handicap chase.
• Jason Maguire definitely misses Cheltenham for the 2nd year in succession after his appeal against a 14 day ban for Schooling in Public was tossed out of court. Desperately unlucky for the jockey especially after his awful fall before last year's festival.
• Nico De Boinville will get back on board Coneygree whereever he goes for the festival, but will that be the Gold Cup or the RSA?? Still entered in both Sara Bradstock is saying this week that the faster the ground the more likely the horse will end up in the RSA but he is working very well. However if the ground is too quick it'll be nothing!

Coneygree, a beautiful jumper, on his way to victory at Newbury

• Harry Fry thinks Thomas Brown will improve for a step up in trip, says he has been crying out for it, and he will be going for the Albert Bartlett.
• Un Ace has had a wind operation since his last run and is highly likely to go in a handicap, either the Festival Plate or the Grand Annual.
• Alan King wants to send Uxizandre to the Ryanair, thinks Ned Stark is better than ever and thinks Balder Succes has stepped forward now they have his trip right.
• Jonjo O'Neil is seriously tempted by a handicap race for Taquin Du Seuil, formerly targeted at the Gold Cup. The wise trainer, who is coming into some serious form at the right time of season, appreciates TDS doesn't want 3 miles now and thinks his handicap rating could make him ripe for one of those races at Chetenham.
• Ritchie McLernon picks up the ride on Holywell with AP riding Carlingford Lough.
• Sadly for John Quinn his prize mare Aurore D'Estruval will miss the Mares hurdle this year after missing a bit of work recently due to injury. She will now go to Aintree or Punchestown later in the season, hoepfully for the stable she can pick up a big prize at one of those meetings.

Bookie Offers

• William Hill are doing a great offer on the Supreme...all losing bets, up to £25, will be refunded! End of! The refund comes as a free bet but this looks like being one offer you cannot pass up on, you don't need the favorite to win, you don't need your horse to lose...as long as you don't win you get refunded. Make sure to bet online though, in store you are limited to £10 and the £10 is refunded as a bet to be used on a Handicap on the Tuesday, nowhere near as good an offer.
• Paddy Power are also hitting us with a great offer on the festival opening day. You're stake (£50 max this time)refunded as a free bet if either Douvan or Un De Sceaux win their respective races if you have a bet in that race. Not quite as good as the William Hill offer but Paddy do their offer on the Supreme and the Arkle.
• Star Sports are doing a £50 matched bet on the night if you get along to the London Racing Club preview night on Tuesday, details of this night and a great panel below. The London Racing Club always do a load of great events, their pre-season preview night was great craic, so I'd highly recommend joining us at this one for three hours full of Cheltenham chat!

• However a little nugget from a Ladbrookes rep...Don't back Douvan until the Monday before Cheltenham...is that a little enhancement on the horison???

That'll do for now. I'm sure I've missed plenty but there is just so much news coming think and fast that I've tried to pick out a few bits that sound interesting, hopefully you can use these to your advantage!

Cheers for reading

Alex

The Sire is Back!

Well this weekend was fairly quiet on the Cheltenham front.....no no no sorry wait, that was what I was planning to write last weekend when looking ahead to this weekend. However with the news early last week that the reigning Champion Chaser Sire De Grugy was to line up at Chepstown any previous blog intros had to be scrapped as whatever Gary Moore's stable star did on Saturday was sure to have big ramifications on the Champion Chase market. So as this was the biggest news of the weekend lets start with that

Sire Back with a Bang!

Sire De Grugy, make no bones about it, had been awful in the jumping department at Newbury last time out and Gary Moore took the bold decision to send the apple of his eye to Chepstow for a handicap chase, where he would be giving lumps of weight to the opposition. The smart Far West carried 9-13, less 5lbs for his riders claim as well, Grey Gold had 10-6, Mister Grez 9-7, less his riders 7lbs claim yet SDG was lumbering a whopping 11-12 round on soft going, make no mistake it was going to take something smart from SDG to win this. And fortunately for fans of this horse that is exactly what we got!

Sire De Grugy put in a spectacular leap at the last (Getty Images)

Sire De Grugy had the crowd gasping at his jumping, but this time it was in awe rather than shock, as he put in a completely different round than we saw at Newbury. His jumping was beautiful, especially spectacular at the final 2 fences where he soared over them in the style we became accustomed too last season. He absolutely blitzed the opposition and won easily in the end by a comfortable 7 lengths.

This was much more like it and really injected some current season star dust into the Champion Chase market where he was trimmed into around 7-2 from the 5-1 mark, 2nd favourite in the market behind Sprinter Sacre. However you could argue that based on what we have seen this season SDG should be favourite, ahead of Sprinter in the market, as he was far more impressive here than SS was when seen at Ascot. Granted at their best you would fancy Sprinter to come out on top but from what we have seen now SDG will certainly be near his best in March, but will Sprinter??? I don't think that the proximity of the Champion Chase to this race should be used as a negative, SDG seems to thrive on racing so don't let that put you off if you were impressed here. All in all he looks, to me, the most likely winner of the Champion Chase at this point in the season but let me know what you think. Were you as impressed with this performance as me??


Beltor Belts his rivals at Kempton!

Sorry for the awful header for this but lets gloss over it and talk Triumph Hurdle horses. Beltor looks a serious tool based on what we saw in the Adonis hurdle at Kempton on Saturday. Trained by Robert Stephens, hardly a huge name in his 2nd season in training, and formerly in the care of Sir Mark Prescott Beltor was a hugely impressive winner on the Kempton card earling quotes of 12-1 for the Triumph Hurdle. He cruised into contention coming up the home straight and once sent to the front by Tom O'Brien there was no other winner. He dispatched smart horses like Bivouac and All Yours with ease and if trained by Nicholls, Henderson or Mullins you fancy he would be a good deal shorter in the Triumph market.

Beltor on his was to a hugely impressive victory in the Adonis Hurdle (Edward Whitaker)

Zarkandar won the Adonis on his way to glory in the Triumph and based on what we saw on Saturday Beltor has a really good chance of replicating that horse. He obviously has a good deal of speed, a faster pace will only help him settle and afterwards Stephen's quotes would indicate that it was all roads to Cheltenham now. For me this was one of the most impressive performances of the season from a Triumph hurdle bound horse, he beat some really solid opposition and if you got some of the 16/1 around immediately after this victory you have a very nice bet on your hands!



Elsewhere this weekend

Lets just have a brief recap of the other performances of note this weekend

• Irish Saint dispatched Melodic Rendezvous with ease on his way to the Pendil Novices Chase, but with stablemate Ptit Zig also entered in the JLT I think Nicholls may wait for Aintree with Irish Saint. He was really impressive here, jumping was lovely and MR couldn't live with the pace he set from the front, making an awful mistake 5 out and finishing well beaten in the end. MR just doesn't seem to have taken to fences and I would be shocked if he still went to Cheltenham this year.
• Days of Heaven was another who could be Aintree bound after taking the Dovecote in impressive fashion. Cheltenham is off the agenda as this horse is easily wound up but when he properly learns to settle, which he has been getting better at recently, he will be a serious horse and Chasing is on the agenda for next season.
• Rocky Creek did his Grand National claims no harm at all as he took the big feature chase at Kempton. This was the performance we were waiting for from Rocky Creek and the breathing operation he has reportedly undergone over the summer looks to have worked wonders. 
• Milborough won the Eider Chase up at Newcastle and now looks to be bound for the Scottish National after showing endless stamina over this testing trip and track. Summery Justice looked to be coming to claim him at the end but under his good claiming jockey Graham Watters he held on, finding a 2nd wind and winning cosily enough.

That's all from me this week, the Cheltenham study really does start here and I'll be posting a series of race previews ahead of the start of the Festival. This Tuesday marks the fortnight to go banner, it really is coming at us quickly...I can't wait!

Thanks for reading

Alex

The Arkle Chase 2015

For the the key question when looking at how to bet in this race is do you want to smash into a 4/7 favorite? By far the most likely winner of the race no doubt but plenty a skinny enough price considering the horse in questions, Un De Sceaux, has never done it round Cheltenham and has fallen in a 1/3rd of his starts over fences. Ok so he has never been given the chance to prove himself on the undulations of Prestbury park, his one fall was just lack of concentration on debut and he has never looked like falling since. He goes out from the front at a breakneck pace but seems able to maintain a pace that other top quality races can't even lie up with. Grade 1 winners have tried to take him on this season and have been swatted aside - see  Clarcam who was getting weight off Un De Sceaux and was beaten 15 lengths. For more evidence of the power of Un De Sceaux look at what he did to Grade 2 winner Gilgamboa who was smashed by this beast at Leopardstown and doesn't seem the same horse since. Why would you take this horse on if it isn't simply because you don't bet at odds on??? 

Last Year's Shock Arkle Winner Western Warhorse

Well lets start with the Cheltenham course, and the famous hill. Un De Sceaux, as mentioned, goes off at a serious clip. Watch any of his previous runs to see this and although proven over further that hill is going to test his stamina in a serious way. If Un De Sceaux gets lit up in any way by the huge Cheltenham occasion, goes off a bit too quick and turns into the home straight tiring things could get very interesting. Second is the testing Cheltenham fences considering Un De Sceaux has fallen before; there are 13 fences to be jumped on the way round this 2 mile test and UDS can't afford to let his concentration lapse like he did on debut. The thing is this obviously isn't his chasing debut, he has learned plenty about the game since then and I doubt we will see the same mistake twice. The more we look at this race the more it looks like we are playing for 2nd and 3rd place - that's if we get enough runners!

Hot Favorite Un De Sceaux

So who do we take to follow him home? If the Willie Mullins hotpot wasn't in this race it would be an ultra competitive renewal!. 

Vibrato Valtat, a reformed character over fences. Grade 1 winner this term and has won 4 of his 5 chase starts, the only defeat coming when given a poor ride by Sam TD at Cheltenham. Will love coming late off a strong pace so this race could be run to suit, giving him a big e/w chance. 

Clarcam - Smashed out of the part by Un De Sceaux at Cheltenham bit prior to that had looked very impressive when defeating the highly rated Vautour over Christmas. Will have the services of top young jockey Bryan Cooper and handles the Cheltenham track, won't be trying to track Un De Sceaux this time and should run better.

Josses Hill - A very high class hurdler, Cheltenham form also proven having come 2nd in the Supreme last year. However hasn't looked a natural over fences this season, only managing the sole win from 3 starts and not impressing with his jumping. However Barry Geraghty insists that the fast pace of the Arkle will bring out the best in this Henderson chaser and keeps the faith. Henderson's record with Chasers in the recent past is awful though and Josses Hill will have to improve massively on what we have seen over fences to get involved here.

Sgt Reckless - Pricewise selection, however has only run once over fences and comes into this off the back of a spin around the all weather. Did impress with his fencing however and has Cheltenham experience in the book. He is a seriously quick horse but does need good ground to even run to be honest.

Court Minstrel - Also needs good ground, he had impressed on his first two starts over fences this year before flopping in the Sandown mud last time out. He has won over the Cheltenham fences and in Paul Maloney will be ridden to get a place expertly, however hasn't been seen since before the turn of the year, could he lack recent match practice?

Ted Veale - a faller in last year's race but a previous festival handicap winner

Three Kingdoms - Needed an AP Masterclass to get the better of Solar Impulse in a Grade 2 latest and prior to that beaten by Vibrato Valtat.

Gods Own - Best performance of the season in the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter, not been as impressive since however he was competing outside of Novice company. Needs good ground, won't run if soft, but his experience will be helpful and could run well at a price.

Melodic Rendezvous - Good, solid hurdler who needed soft ground to be at his best. Not massively impressive thus far over fences and one who needs give in the ground. Even with his favored ground he flopped badly at Sandown latest and I would be surprised to see him line up.

I could go on but to be honest I don't think there is much point, instead I'll cut to the chase and give my 1-2-3 for the race. 

Right no prizes for originality but Un De Sceaux wins this is a hugely impressive manner. There isn't much more to say apart from the fact nothing can live with the pace he sets, he's trained by a master, ridden by a master and the bookies will be cheering to the rafters if they can get him beat. I just don't see it happening though and even at odds on you could argue that he rates a very good bet.

Willie Mullins, the trainer of Un De Sceaux

2nd up I'm going Vibrato Valtat. I think the pace put into this race by Un De Sceauz will be ideal for VV, who will creep along getting plenty of cover before being sent for home coming up the hill. While I can't see him troubling the winner I think 2nd is his for the taking.

Vibrato Valtat (left) on his way to winning at Kenpton over Christmas

Finally completing the front three I'll ignore the obvious claims of Clarcam and put up one at a price in Court Minstrel.  He was impressive round the Cheltenham fences on only his second chase start and the good ground that will hopefully greet us in March should help this horse put his Sandown effort behind him and complete the front three.

Court Minstrel could sneak 3rd place at a nice price

1) Un De Sceaux

2) Vibrato Valtat

3) Court Mistrel

A Valentines weekend, or was your heart broken?

We're getting closer and closer to the start of the festival and in less than 4 weeks time we will finally know the answers to all the big Cheltenham puzzles. This Valentines weekend was one where a lot of love went to Li Forrit who got up in the dying strides to claim the Grand National Trial at Haydock (however he isn't even entered up at Aintree!), we had new partnerships built as Barry Geraghty delivered Carole's Destrier to victory at Ascot and we had dates made as Simon Munir confirmed he will be represented by Peace and Co and Top Notch in the Triumph. No room on that hot date for Bristol Du Mai, who flopped at Sandown when last seen and doesn't get invited back this time. Let's look at some of the action with Cheltenham races in our minds.

Saturday

The Ryanair Chase gained a couple of interesting participants in the shape of Balder Succes and Ma Filleule who came first and second in the Ascot Chase over 2 and half miles. The winner jumped beautifully and was a well deserved winner in the hands of Wayne Hutchinson, however he will have to improve on his patchy Cheltenham record if he is to taste victory over the likes of Don Cossack and Cue Card. Henderson said he expects his filly to come on for that outing and she is certainly game, battling all the way to the line on Saturday, however I see no real reason why she would turn around this form with Balder, I'd certainly rather be with Alan King's charge at 8/1 than the filly at 10/1. The Ryanair is actually shaping up into a decent race this year!

Balder Succes continues his upwards trajectory over fences and a 2.5 mile trip winning the Ascot Chase

Ballycasey was a big disappointment, he jumped really well and then just seemed to stop coming round the home turn, as if the engine had just run out of petrol, strange for a horse who has won a bumper over 2.5 miles and shaped like a stayer all last season. He gets taken off his feet over 2 miles and doesn't stay 3 so I'm not sure where Mullins will go with him now. Ptit Zig reverts to Novice company in the JLT at the Fez, if I was a backer I'd rather him not have fallen today but Nicholls didn't seem overly concerned in the aftermath and he remains a 4/1 shot for that race.

I doubt we saw any potential Champion Hurdle winners on Saturday but we did get a boost to the form of the favorite Faugheen as Blue Heron , whom Faugheen dispatched with ease at Kempton over Christmas, beat Champion hurdle hopefuls Irving and Sign of a Victory by 6 lengths and a huge margin respectively. Blue Heron doesn't even have an entry in the Champion, Skelton taking him out the race earlier in the week, but this really was the final nail in the coffin for the hopes of Irving and Sign of a Victory.

Kitten Rock could prove a lively outsider and he won the Red Mills Trial Hurdle over at Gowran Park, although with his main rival Abbyssial falling at the last what could have been an interesting finish really was a stroll in the park. He is a 25/1 chance for glory at the Fez. Tiger Roll; what on earth has happened to this horse? Last year's Triumph Hurdle winner has gone backwards this year and was once again hugely disappointing again in this race. What they do with him from here on in is anyones guess, could they step him up to the World Hurdle trip or do they draw stumps and try again next year?

Also at Gowran we saw Champagne Fever confirm his wellbeing when winning the Red Mills Chase, beating not very much but at least putting in a clean round of jumping. We are still no closer to knowing his target, be it Ryanair or Champion Chase, I personally hope they go for the latter though! He looks so much better being allowed to bowl along at a fast pace, not being held on to, so I really think the 2 mile trip will see him at his best.

Champagne Fever is a beautiful horse to watch bowl along at a good pace, send him for the Queen Mother Willie!

At Fishers Cross flopped again up at Haydock, being well beaten and fading out of sight after the final hurdle. Curtis seemed at a loss to explain this performance, saying things like 'he seems to have lost his zest' before saying he would still go to Cheltenham in hope rather than expectation. He certainly has no expectation from me any more thats for sure. Seeyouatmidnight ran well into 2nd considering it was his first run off for so long and he also goes to Cheltenham for the World Hurdle (25/1). He will come on for this no doubt and goes into an open renewal with a live e/w chance.

Quickly wrapping up the rest of Saturday

• Top Notch put in a top round of hurdling to win at Haydock, beating nothing to be fair as his sp of 2/13 would suggest. However he goes to Cheltenham off the back of a win, a fluent round of jumping and with confidence high, and as a 10/1 chance for Triumph glory.
• Definitely Red beat the highly touted Fletchers Flyer in the Albert Bartlett trial at Haydock but will only go to Cheltenham if the going is softer than good as he is a chaser in the making and needs soft conditions.
• Teaforthree could only finish 4th in the hunters chase and will now fact a test to qualify for the foxhunters at Cheltenham.
• It was a bad day for Tea backers as Tea for two was also beaten at Ascot in the opener on their card, perhaps the step out of handicap company was not to his liking and it will be interesting to see where connections aim him now.
• Wait for me was a good winner of the Ascot bumper that looked a hot race before and if he goes to Cheltenham won't be without a chance after beating a few previous winners in this field. 

Sunday

The main action on Sunday was, as per usual, over the Irish Sea where Navan played host to a good card. We had a 3 mile chase, a 2m 1f Hurdle and a 2m 5f hurdle all of which had runners who had Cheltenham hopes, let's see who came out of these on top.

Dedigout was the winner of the first Grade 2 on the card, the 2m 5f hurdle race, but his task was made a lot easier after the fall of Briar Hill at the last, no doubt Briar Hill would have been involved at the finish but as it was Dedigout was a comfortable enough winner over Zaidpour in 2nd and Gerdago in 3rd. It's hard to see Dedigout even going to Cheltenham unless the ground comes up soft however he is a 20/1 shot for World Hurdle glory and certainly would be in with a chance if we were in for a soft ground festival. This was another setback for Briar Hill, who looked set for his best run of the season before this fall. After taking a pearler of a fall at the festival last year I wouldn't be keen on following him now, especially with confidence lowered again off the back of today. However if you think the fall won't have dented his confidence too much this did look like Briar Hill was at the very least getting back to his form of last season and you can be encouraged by this but for me not much to take out of this given good ground at Cheltenham.

In the Flyingbolt Novice Chase Gilgamboa was sent off an odds on favorite but proved hugely disappointing as he went down to the outsider of the field Rawnaq. Unfortunately it looks like the monster Un De Sceauz has broken Gilgamboa as this was a massive shock and one I was not expecting, Bolger's charge never really jumped well at all and this was definitely not his true running. The thing we must decide is was it just due to being turned out too quickly or has being hammered by UDS last time out really affected him? If you fancy him for Cheltenham even on the back of this you can get some very fancy odds, 20/1 for the JLT and 40/1 for the Arkle.

Performance of the day must go though to Very Wood who produced a taking performance under Bryan Cooper to romp to victory over 3 miles. Very Wood will definitely head to Cheltenham now, for what race we do not yet know, but with his course form (won the Albert Bartlett last year) and this victory under his belt he goes there with a really live chance. Noel Meade fancies the 4 miler for him, and with the wealth of talent Gigginstown stud have in the chasing division I think he could slot very nicely here allowing Don Poli to go for the RSA. Bryan Cooper shares my thought's I reckon, he was dead keen to tell us that Very Wood would be a lovely ride in the 4 miler...because he wants Don Poli for the RSA!!!

Very Wood...VERY good!

This Tuesday will be 3 weeks exactly until the start of the 2015 Cheltenham Festival and the Cheltenham preview night season is just round the corner, indeed many venue's have begun hosting theirs already. These are always great fun so get along to one if you can, although don't believe everything you hear! Use the information to go alongside your own opinions of the races, don't discard what you thought just because one of the preview panel say something different; Remember, if the experts knew it all they'd have long retired by now!

Thanks again for reading and good luck if you have any Cheltenham ante-post bets now that NRNB time is really kicking into gear. Exciting news broke today that we may see Sire De Grugy in action at Chepstow this coming weekend, lets hope so and lets hope for a better round of jumping from him than on reappearance. Another fall and I doubt we will be seeing him at Cheltenham.

Alex

We will never see another of his like - AP McCoy

Well one thing is for sure after this weekend and that is that horse racing will never be the same again after the retirement of the 19, soon to be 20, time champion jockey AP McCoy. Many following the sport have never known a different champion to AP and his time at the top of the sport, a sport where jockeys risk their lives day in day out and broken bones are part of the game, will never be matched. Let's hope that McCoy can go out on a high this season and have a few more big race winners before his time is up; it's the least a man who has given so much to the sport deserves.

20 time Champion Jockey AP McCoy bows out at the top of the sport

Action on the track

Back on the track and there were some cracking races the weekend from Newbury, Warwick, Exeter and Leopardstown for us to take in and for sure some big Cheltenham moves on the back of them. Let's start by checking out the Saturday cards

Saturday Sizzlers

Saturday saw the return to the track of the reigning champion chaser Sir De Grugy in the Game Spirit Chase however he was surprisingly beaten despite being sent off a warm favorite for the 2 mile Chase. He traveled well enough but didn't have the jumping too match and eventually unseated his pilot a few fences from home leaving Mr Mole free to take victory under the champion jockey.
The Champion Chase now rivals the Gold Cup in terms of openness as this was yet another failure from one of the head of the market for the Wednesday feature. SDG is now available at 7/1 whereas Mr Mole can still just about be found at 12's: Nicholls said post race that this was really MM champion Chase but didn't rule out the festival for this reformed character while Gary Moore confirmed SDG was still Prestbury Park bound with plenty of schooling to come before then. Don't rule out SDG at Cheltenham as he ran well enough before unseating, the one worry for me would be if it was his injury that led to the bad fencing though. I'm no expert in equine injuries but that concern would be enough to make me look elsewhere, the question is quite where!

Mr Mole and AP McCoy score in the Game Spirit, McCoy would announce his retirement soon after

A much more convincing case for a Cheltenham bet came from Coneygree in the Denman Chase as Mark Bradstock's pride and joy produced a display that the Tank himself would have been proud of to lead from pillar to post and score by 7 lengths. Such was the impressive nature of this performance that bookies slashed his Gold Cup odds into 8/1 from 20/1 pre race. Connections will have a huge choice now as to Coneygree's festival target as he is still a novice and has the RSA open to him; however the Gold Cup is the blue riband event of the festival and no doubt they will be tempted. After all he routed more experienced rivals here and as the old saying goes if you're good enough you're old enough...or something like that! History will be against him, the last novice to take the Gold Cup was Captain Christie back in 1974 but Coneygree is now 3/3 this season and his jumping belies his novice status. 8/1 in a wide open year...now that's a tempted.


I doubt we saw anything in the Betfair hurdle to keep Faugheen awake at night, as expected in the pre weekend preview blog I did, so let's just mention the impressive performance of Vibrato Valtat in the Kingmaker which saw him promoted to the position of 2nd favourite in the Arkle market in behind Un De Sceaux. The way the Arkle with be run, UDS blasting off in from, will actually suit this horse as he has to be delivered late in the day off a decent pace to be seen at his best as he was by Sam TD on Saturday and there are definitely worse e/w punts especially if you were on at his pre race Arkle price of 16/1!

Vibrato Valtat on the left at his best being produced late

Finally King's Palace won a 2 runner race but not without an jumping error or two in his round. He didn't enhance his festival claims but did enough to win and now heads to the RSA where, on previous form certainly, he holds leading claims.

Super Sunday!

Woof! The card hosted by Leopardstown on Sunday was absolutely top notch and we were reminded just how much we well miss McCoy as he gave some great rides on the day, most notably in the Hennessey Chase where he delivered Carlingford Lough to victory in a classic McCoy battling finish. The race looked really open before the off and on winning this ahead of rivals who will be Gold Cup bound Carlingford Lough has earned his chance in the showpiece event where he is a 10/1 chance. 
Lord Windermere put in an improved display and will line up with a chance of retaining his crown but most of the field will also have a live chance of taking it off him! Still nothing came out of this race that screamer winner like Silviniaco Conti does for me and the closer to March we get the more I like the chance of the market leader.


Bubbles were burst in the Deloitte Novices Hurdle as Nichols Canyon comfortably took the 2m 2f race ahead of the highly fancied Alvisio Ville, apparently the subject of heavy market support for the Neptune in March in the week leading up to this race. However he was very keen and didn't last the trip, so a drop back to 2 miles and the Supreme may be more up his street. The winner is now 8/1 for the Neptune, with Ruby saying afterwards he sees him as slightly more of a stayer, while I was pleased that Silver Concorde, who I think is overpriced for the supreme, put in a much improved performance than last time out. Don't rule him out on good ground in March.

Despite saying pre-race he'd love to be on Alvisio Ville Walsh defeated that horse on board Nichols Canyon

I think we may well have seen two horses who could fight out the JLT in the 2m5f novice Chase in Apache Stronghold, who appreciated the step back in trip having contested the Topaz lto, and Valseur Lido. The pair engaged in a right battle on the run in with Apache coming out on top by 1/2 a length at the line but both horses enhanced their reputations and head over the Irish Sea in March with leading claims.VL also has an RSA entry but after this race today I hope Willie does the right thing and puts Don Poli in that race as VL looked great at this trip.Don't put DP into the 4 miler please Willie!

Kalkir was sent off a short priced favourite for the opener on the card but it was another Mullins runner in the shape of Petite Parisienne who came out on top of a thrilling finish, the 7 lbs she received from Kalkir proving vital as she scored by just under 2 lengths. Willie said afterwards that both are Triumph bound and will demand market respect after fighting out the finish to a race that has produced many a triumph winner in its time. Vercingetorix was a disappointment and with the strength of the owners hand in this division he may well be Fred Winter bound now.


Elsewhere on Sunday Prince De Beauchene won a hot hunter Chase but as he is illegible for the Cheltenham version the Grand National could be more his target this season. Shocking news as Regal Encore finally won a race at Exeter, a hugely competitive handicap at that! And we saw Mullins shortie in Potters Point turned over in the concluding bumper to the Leopardstown card, however managed to keep the race in the family as David Mullins trained the winner!

A Willie Mullins 1-2 in the Leopardstown Opener

We must take a moment to send thoughts to the family of Hadden Frost after the jockey suffered a nasty fall at Exeter and had to be air lifted to hospital with a back injured. Hopefully Hadden's injuries aren't as bad as first feared and I pray he makes a full recovery.


That's all from me this week, plenty of top action and big news to absorb as we get nearer and nearer to the festival itself. Less that 30 days to go now, I can almost hear the famous roar that greats the runners in the Supreme!

Looking ahead to a great weekend of racing

Looking ahead to the weekend

Wow...What a weekend we have to look forward too! After a barren spell over the jumps recently due to the weather we look like getting some action back starting on Thursday which is good. However the weekend is where the real action is with cracking cards at both Newbury and Leopardstown, with Warwick also staging some decent action. Cheltenham clues look like coming thick and fast over Saturday and Sunday so lets have a quick look at what we can expect from this weekend.

Newbury Saturday

Betfair Hurdle

The most valuable handicap hurdle run on these shores in the National Hunt season is as competitive as you'd expect considering the prize fund. However while the winner of this is usually linked to a potential Champion Hurdle winner the presence of Faugheen and The New One in that market means that we will have to get an ultra impressive winner on Saturday for those links to be made this year. With the covers down at Newbury I expect the ground to be pretty testing as the covers can lead to the ground sweating somewhat which won't suit Sign of a Victory at the top of the weights.

I did like Seedling for this but he did not feature at Thursday's entry stage so I'll look elsewhere starting with one that will need good ground really, certainly not too testing, in Goodwood Mirage. Now that the stable are coming back to form I think Jonjo will have a few well handicapped beasts to send out and I certainly expect a better showing that in the Ladbroke where the stable were in rancid form. This horse has enough speed to win on the flat so this trip around a flat course like Newbury should suit him just fine. I was surprised to see him as big as 25/1 for this one which is a very juicy e/w play; the gelding operation he had over the summer means this is a horse I'm expecting to make his mark at some point this season and if we get decent ground it could well be in the Betfair this Saturday.

If the ground rides more testing however I'd e half tempted to have a flutter on Forced Family Fun at a massive 33/1. He represents John Quinn who knows how to win this race, has won over the distance and on soft ground, is upwardly mobile having won 2 of his last 4 over hurdles and will be race fit having had an outing on the flat recently. Like Goodwood Mirage he has the speed to win on the flat which will stand him in good stead here and at the prices I think is worth a cheeky e/w bet. No Champion Hurdle pretenders in here though.

The Game Spirit Chase

This sees the return of Champion Chaser Sire De Grudy and I fully expect him to take the Game Spirit on re-appearance. He may well have less that the current 5 opposition in the line up as Mr Mole and Uxizandre probably both won't run for the same owner. Vibrato Valtat also has an engagement at Warwick so I'd advise taking the price on Sire De Grugy who will be fit enough to do himself justice according to his trainer Gary Moore. I'm hoping for a good performance as well as I'm desperate for something to put a firm stamp on the betting for the Champion Chase!

Jamie Moore and Sire De Grugy after winning the 2014 Queen Mother

The Denman Chase

This race could prove fairly informative in terms of the Gold Cup as Holywell, Taquin Du Seuil and Coneygree are all potential runners in the Blue Riband event in March. However I quite like the chances of another Gold Cup potential runner, for all I don't think any of this field will be winning the Gold Cup, in Houblon Des Obeaux. Houblon has been running crackers in big handicaps off big weights this season and will be better off at the weights with many of these opposition in this Grade 2.Miss Williams is winning Saturday races for fun at the moment, Houblon won't mind testing ground and loves it round this track. Like the Betfair Hurdle however I don't think we have a winner of a Championship race at Cheltenham here.

Leopardstown

What...A....Card! Yet again Ireland really does do Sunday racing at it's absolute best and I'll have a brief look ahead to this top quality card.

Kalkir and Vercingetorix line up in the Juvenile Hurdle and both have prominent positions in the betting for the Triumph Hurdle in March. If we get an impressive winner here expect it to shorten into at least 2nd favorite in this market, however it would have to be some victory to usurp Peace and Co as current favorite,

The Delottie Novices Hurdle also looks a cracker with Willie Mullins holding a ridiculously strong hand - 5 top top quality horses for the man who has taken this race the alst 2 years with Champagne Fever and Vautour. Alviso Ville, Black Hercules, McKinley, Nichols Canyon and Sempre Medici are all potential runners and whichever make the track on Sunday must be given the utmost respect. A few I'll be watching really keenly are Identity Thief and Silver Concorde, both of whom are too big in the market for the Supreme currently in my opinion. A big run from either horse at the weekend will see their huge odds slashed and I fancy I'll get a price on them on Sunday with Mullins entries making the market. Silver Concorde especially interests me given he is the Champion Bumper winner so obvious is incredibly talented, acts round the course and is 20/1 for Supreme glory...very nice!

Silver Concorde winning the 2014 Bumper

The 2 mile 5 furlong Novice Chase on the card sees impressive Topaz Chase winner Don Poli out, although I fancy this trip may be a touch on the sharp side for this one considering his prominence in the RSA and 4 mile markets for Cheltenham. There are a host of top horses in opposition as well; Very Wood, Rule the World, The Tullow Tank, Shanahan's Turn, Band of Blood and the one I like Valseur Lido. Valseur Lido will be more at home over this trip than Don Poli and has top form in the book, winning his last two including a Grade 1 last time out. I think he could well win here and stake his RSA claims, allowing Don Poli to be sent on the 4 mile route...I'm sure Patrick Mullins may well cheer that outcome!

Finally lets quickly look at the Hennessy where Gold Cup 2014 winner Lord Windermere continues on his path to Cheltenham in March. His trainer has always said the Gold Cup is the aim so he may even come of again for this run and I'll steer clear on Sunday. On His Own only just went down to Road to Riches in the Lexus earlier this season, top class form, and he really impressed me that day. With no R2R in the line up on Sunday he may well be able to gain compensation.

Thanks for reading and lets all allow ourselves to get a bit excited for a top class weekend of jumping action!

Triumph Hurdle moves, Champion Chase shakers and the rest of the weekend

January ended and February began, this time a month on and the Festival will be on our doorstep! I can't wait! There is still plenty of build up to come, of course we have the many festival preview nights where pretty much every horse entered up at Prestbury Park will get a mention somewhere up and down the country. On the track this weekend we had a few pointers, probably most noticeably in the Triumph Hurdle, so lets start by looking at how that market shapes up after Sandown and Musselburgh over the past 2 days. From there we will check out the likes of Hidden Cyclone and Gitane Du Berlais who also impressed this weekend and finally look ahead to next weekend.

A huge flop for me came at Sandown Park where I really fancied Bristol Du Mai to serve it up to good handicapper Garde La Victoire and potential Supreme horse Jollyallen. The latter wouldn't have enjoyed the ground whereas we knew Bristol Du Mai would take to it after his Chepstow success so to see Bristol Du Mai the first of the trio beaten, well before the final fence, was a real let down and out go his Triumph Hurdle hopes really. I doubt we will even see him in the race with the owner's having hot favorite Peace and Co as well as Top Notch and Vercingetorix ahead of him in the market now. I've not seen any excuses for this run come out, perhaps the stiffer track found him out? If that's the case then Cheltenham is definitely off the agenda. 

One horse who was more successful in staking his claim for the Triumph hurdle was Nicky Henderson's Hargam, who won as he liked up in Scotland on Sunday. He didn't race anything like the opposition Bristol Du Mai did but he still won with his head in his chest and shortened into a general 7/1 chance. Good ground is important to this one but he should get that on the final day of Cheltenham and importantly we know he will act on the track. Mind you Peace and Co, the favorite in the market, is also proven round the Prestbury undulations...at least we are assured a right good showdown!

Hargam (left) is now a general 7/1 chance for the Triumph Hurdle

Incidentally Jollyallen, another AP ride, goes for the Supreme, and deservedly so. He will appreciate the likely better ground and goes to the Supreme with a fair chance, especially with his game attitude and experience of getting into a few good ding-dongs under his belt. Don't write him off as an e/w play, for all I expect him to come up short for win purposes. 

Also at Sandown Park on Saturday we had another demonstration of the huge strength in depth of the Willie Mullins stable as he sent over Gitane Du Berlais, by no means the number one novice chaser in the Mullins pecking order, to see off Irish Saint and Champagne West, a couple of Britain's best hopes in this division. Gitane Du Berlais holds entries in the Arkle, JLT and RSA, as well as a few handicaps, such is the strength in depth of the yard she comes from so really is no sort of ante-post proposition at the moment. However the fact that she can be sent over to take these Grade 1 races shows you just how much we will have to respect whatever Willie has for these races. You would think in Un De Sceaux, Vautour and Don Poli Willie could sweep these races up in a fairly short prices treble so it may be that this horse who has dispatched a couple of 'our' bigger hopes in the Novice Chase division is thrown into a handicap. Where does that leave the British Novices then!?!?!?

Gitane Du Berlais, not even Mullins 5th string novice chaser in reality, dispatches Irish Saint with ease

But Back over in Ireland on Sunday it was quite the opposite story as Willie saw defeat for one of his Champion Chase hopes, Twinlight, as Hidden Cyclone posted his best round of fencing for some time to take the Tied Cottage Chase. If Hidden Cyclone had any pretensions to the Champion Chase crown (as tipped up by Pricewise) he had to be taking this really receiving 8lbs from Twinlight, and win he did from the front in very nice fashion. 12/1 is his general price for Queen Mum glory now, although one suspects we will see more activity in this market next weekend (more on that later). However it was encouraging to see Hidden Cyclone jump nicely to take this Grade 2, he certainly deserves his place in a potentially very open Champion Chase. Whether his jumping holds up when he doesn't get to lead, which must be unlikely with Special Tiara in opposition, remains to be seen and I have my doubts.

A quick round up of some other action this weekend....

• November Handicap winner on the flat Open Eagle made his hurdling debut for Willie Mullins, however he was very disappointing and was a well beaten 8/13 favorite. He didn't quicken when required and Cheltenham must be off the agenda now.
• Some Plan was a nice winner from the front in the Scottish Supreme Novice trial, beating the highly fancied El Namoose from the John Ferguson yard. He is still an outsider for the actual Supreme in March and may prefer Aintree as a track but this was still a nice run.
• Dawalan continued to show the benefits of his summer breathing operation as he took the Pertemps Handicap Hurdle qualifier up in Scotland. He has won his last two now but has probably shown his hand in terms of his mark now though with Cheltenham in mind.
• Pain Au Chocolat heads to the Triumph for Alan King on the back of winning a joke of a race at Sandown Park. They were literally walking for about 20 seconds at the start of this race before going no sort of gallop for the first part of the race; hardly a good trial for the Triumph!

Looking ahead to next weekend and at Newbury we have the return of Sire De Grugy for the Gary Moore yard. I'll be watching with huge interest as a good reappearance could see the reigning Champion Chaser regain favoritism in the market, a flop and the market will look even more open than ever. The Betfair Hurdle also features on the card at the Berkshire Venue and it looks like being an interesting Saturday, lets hope it beats the weather!

Thanks for reading!

Alex