3m1f Ultima Handicap Chase (Grade 3) (Class 1)
It doesn’t look the most competitive of renewals for the Ultima Handicap Chase with just the 16-runners lining up this year.
The warm favourite is novice, Happygolucky, who certainly carries the most unexposed profile into this for trainer Kim Bailey. Happygolucky has won two of his first three chase starts. But you can pick holes in the form of those three runs and it’s not as if he has got in here lightly given a mark of 147.
One For The Team (tipped last time out) should enjoy the return to better going conditions, but he never travelled in the Listed Sky Bet Handicap Chase at Doncaster in January and is now on a recovery mission having finished about 30-lengths behind our selection AYE RIGHT.
At the time of writing you could still get reasonable each-way terms on Aye Right at 13/2 with William Hill and he looks the class act in this moderate field.
He has placed on five out of his seven attempts over fences in his career and is a model of consistency that seems to be getting better for Harriet Graham’s small yard.
Just the one win in all those attempts may give cause for concern, but Aye Right has been desperately unfortunate not to add to that tally, particularly as he has put in two career best performances on his last two appearances.
Last time out he jumped brilliantly, set the pace and bossed the entire race at Doncaster before getting pipped in the final 100 yards by Scottish Grand National winner Takingrisks over three miles on unsuitably soft ground. He had Cap Du Nord fairly beaten when giving him him 15lbs and Cap Due Nord had finishd just three lengths behind Gold Cup entrant Royal Pagaille on his previous start.
But Aye Right’s stand-out piece of form must surely be his second in the Ladbrokes Trophy, where he finished second behind current Grand National favourite, Cloth Cap, when also giving him a stone. To add further weight to that from, Aye Right also had the ill-fated 2020 Ultima winner, The Conditional well-held back in third as well.
He has had two starts at Cheltenham finishing unplaced, but he did feature in last years RSA Chase claiming fifth behind Champ, Minella Indo and Allaho. With better jumping he might have got closer to that front trio and he has certainly improved in that department and although he will be without his usual partner, Callum Bewley, Richard Johnson deputises and is 1/1 when riding this mount.
1pt each-way Aye Right @13/2, 14:30 Cheltenham, Tuesday (1-5 places, 1/5 odds, William Hill)
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