Cheltenham Festival is very much front of mind this time of year, though there’s plenty of top-class flat racing occurring in Meydan too, as the Carnival builds up to World Cup night later this month. The prize money on offer in Dubai dwarfs that of Cheltenham, and that’s why plenty of British…
1pt win Jungle Cat @5/1, 13:10 Meydan
Meydan hosts a Group Three trial on Saturday for the Group One Al Quoz Sprint on World Cup night, won last year by everyone’s favourite Sole Power. That success aside, he wasn’t his brilliant best last season and, ironically for a horse that’s never won over the distance, his best…
1pt win Thomas Hobson @16/1, Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle, Cheltenham 18th March
You won’t see many Willie Mullins-trained pink-silked Grade-1 runners during Festival week going off double-digit odds, but THOMAS HOBSON looks likely to buck the trend in the Albert Bartlett. Well-fancied stablemates Vautour, Douvan, Djakadam, Min, Limini, Annie Power and Vroum Vroum Mag are all skinny prices for their respective assignments, and…
Cheltenham Festival Ante-Post Update, 1st March
A lot has happened since our last update, and the media clues are in full flow. Let’s get the bad news out the way first, as there’s plenty of good. Simonsig, Killultagh Vic, Faugheen and, most painfully, Ar Mad are all out through injury. Rotten luck, as it can happen to…
0.5pt each-way Camping Ground @25/1 NRNB (various), Champion Hurdle
Injuries to Faugheen and Arctic Fire and the retirement of dual-winner Hurricane Fly means none of the placed horses in last year’s Champion Hurdle will re-compete. In fact, the only likely runner from last year’s race is The New One, whose trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies has been in bullish mood in recent weeks…
1pt win Pilansberg @7/1, 14:00 Kempton
Alan King’s Gibralfaro has been given a lofty rating of 151 ahead of his tilt at the Triumph Hurdle, for which this Grade 2 juvenile hurdle has provided a few winners in the past. If such a rating is to be believed, he’s very well-in at the weights with St…
1pt win Oceane @14/1, 15:05 Kempton
Alan King saddles two for this two-mile novices’ hurdle at Kempton, with Barry Gerraghty taking the ride on Winter Escape in the McManus silks. He was last seen a few weeks back easing home on the bridle to record back-to-back successes at Doncaster. Bookies and punters alike seem to see…
1pt win De Kerry Man @6/1, 0.5pt EW West Wizard @12/1, 16:35 Kempton
Cernunnos went down by a nose at Doncaster last December, when he appeared to slightly idle with the race at his mercy. He probably improved on that effort as he discovered the winning thread in a fairly ordinary looking handicap at Leicester just over three weeks ago, but is landed…
0.5pt win West Approach @100/1, Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle, Cheltenham 18th March
We’ve been closely following Colin Tizzard’s WEST APPROACH this season, twice backing him at Cheltenham with exactly nothing returned. It’s his breeding that appeals, as he’s by the same sire as reigning World Hurdle champ Cole Harden and out of the same dam as the ante-post favourite for his crown, Thistlecrack.…
1pt win Silviniaco Conti @4/1, 15:35 Ascot
Its close proximity to Cheltenham Festival gives this Grade 1 a false feeling – nevertheless, a quality field has assembled containing a dual-King George and Aintree Bowl winner, a Ryanair winner, a Hennessy winner and an ex-Champion Chaser. The obvious place to start is SILVINIACO CONTI, a serial Grade 1 winner…