1pt win Topofthegame @7/2, 14:10 Cheltenham, Wednesday

Wednesday’s RSA Chase is one of the races of the week with the big Irish hope Delta Work heading the market from Santini, Topofthegame and On The Blind Side.

I like last year’s Pertemps Final winner Delta Work a lot as he’s progressed into a Grade 1 horse in subsequent efforts in Ireland, but I have a nagging doubt he’s not yet faced a proper Grade 1 horse, and his Festival win was over a field lacking in class.

He’s easy enough to take on with one of my favourite horses in training, the giant TOPOFTHEGAME, for Paul Nicholls, who has yet to win over fences but has excellent Grade 1 form that ties in tightly with all the best novice chasers, such as La Bague Au Roi, Lostintranslation and Defi Du Seuil.

He beat today’s opponent Santini fairly comfortably in a Grade 1 at Kempton on Boxing Day, blundering two out when heading the eventually winner La Bague Au Roi – who has gone on to beat a lot of the Irish novices at the Dublin Racing Festival – and a tweak in tactics could have reversed the result as he perhaps hit the front too soon.

For such a giant horse, he’s shown plenty of speed and stamina, and I’m excited to see what he can do fully revved up for a Cheltenham Festival.

Santini has too much to prove and can’t really be fancied on value grounds, while On The Blind Side doesn’t seem to like Cheltenham much as he’s returned lame after his two starts at the track, with his sole win being a long way short of the form required to win an RSA.

1pt win Topofthegame @7/2, 14:10 Cheltenham, Wednesday

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