A top renewal worthy of its status as a trial for the Neptune at the Festival. Let’s start from the top of the betting where Yanworth and Shantou Village dispute favouritism after unbeaten seasons and easy Grade 2 victories apiece. Yanworth steps up in trip and hasn’t come off the…
1.5pts win Camping Ground @11/4, Cheltenham 15:35
This year’s renewal of the Cleeve Hurdle looks top-class with first and fifth in the World Hurdle betting – for which it’s a trial – out to strengthen their claims. We really like both, having tipped the odds-on favourite Thistlecrack to land the Long Walk Hurdle in December and having…
1pt win Acapella Bourgeois @7/2, Leopardstown 13:20
Two leading fancies for the first day of the Cheltenham Festival take centre stage today for Willie Mullins, his champion hurdler Faugheen and ante-post Arkle favourite Douvan. The latter is long odds-on for the seemingly straightforward task of following Un De Sceaux’s hoof prints in winning the Irish equivalent today, though Faugheen…
1pt each-way Minella Reception @14/1, Ascot 15:35
Minella Reception looked to be ahead of his mark on his seasonal reappearance at Haydock when falling three out. He had been jumping very smoothly for Nigel Twiston-Davies and Ryan Hatch, and look destined to be in the mix at the finishing line when going the best before he came…
1pt each-way Aurore D'estruval @8/1, Ascot 13:50
This is a big test for the prolific Vroum Vroum Mag, who has won all seven of her Irish starts and has so far been kept against her own sex. She’s another in the familiar Rich Ricci silks from the Mullins yard, and Ruby has made the trip to Ascot,…
1pt win Sire De Grugy at best morning price, Ascot 15:00
No Sprinter Sacre or Dodging Bullets, but a top-class renewal nonetheless with the much-hyped Un De Sceaux arriving from Ireland for the all-conquering Mullins yard. He’s up against 2014 Champion Chase winner Sire De Grugy as well as Haldon Gold Cup winner Vibrato Valtat, Simply Ned and Traffic Fluide. Now, I’m…
Cheltenham Festival ante-post update
As the media noise around the Cheltenham Festival bubbles and the form book gradually takes shape, ante-post prices fluctuate and we’re keeping a keen eye on the prices of our selections. Tombstone @20/1 (now 16/1), Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, Tuesday 15th March As predicted, the 20/1 didn’t last too long and he’s…
1pt win Sceau Royal @16/1, Triumph Hurdle, Cheltenham 18th March
One Festival market that’s not really taken shape yet is the Friday’s Triumph hurdle, where the well-named Ivanovich Gorbatrov trades ante-post favourite for the latest O’Brien to the training ranks, ex-Irish champion jockey Joseph. After a solitary facile success in a Leopardstown maiden, his horse trades a 7/2 favourite whereas it’s…
1pt win Fine Rightly @5/1, 1pt EW Los Amigos @12/1, 15:00 Leopardstown
Blood Cotil returns from a 261 day break in an attempt to win a race previously conquered by the likes of Foxrock and He’llberemembered. Mullins’s charge finished off last season strongly and there could be much more to come this season having largely disappointed as a novice. Top-weight and a…
1pt win De Kerry Man @8/1, 1pt win Midnight Prayer @9/1, 15:35 Warwick
The Classic Chase at Warwick looks a wide-open contest with several horses racing under a penalty for their last outing. Sego Success has a 7lb rise in the weights to contend with but looked in great nick when winning on his chase reappearance at Doncaster over 3m. Alan King thinks…