2m½f (2m87y) (Old) Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle (Registered As The Fred Winter) (Grade 3) (GBB Race) (Class 1) (4yo)
This race is ridiculously competitive so I wouldn’t be going anywhere near the favourites. SAGE ADVICE is the one I keep coming back to. Rated 79 on the flat, he only made his hurdles debut in January and has had to squeeze three starts over timber in a short space of time to get a handicap mark ahead of Cheltenham, and while the last of those runs was a shocker, he might have bounced on the heavy ground having been turned out again so quickly. The form of his first two runs is working out brilliantly as he was less than two lengths behind Cabot Cliffs (137) at Warwick off level weights and thrashed Olly Murphy’s Tinnahalla (126) on debut at Kempton. Tinnahalla has gone on to give a sound beating to Homme Public whose form is closely matched with Houx Gris, the favourite, while Cabot Cliffs gave a very useful juvenile Heross De Seuil 6lb and a 17l thumping at Warwick. In short, I think Sage Advice could have 10lb up his sleeve off a mark of 127, and better ground should suit. The each-way terms are very favourable in this race with six places offered, and at 20/1 he’s well worth a bet.
1pt each-way Sage Advice 20/1, 16:15 Cheltenham, Tuesday (1-6, 1/5 various)
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