BEST PICKS
13:30 Tahmuras E/W
14:10 Jonbon
16:10 Marie’s Rock
13:30 – Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1) – Tahmuras (Each way)
UNBEATEN in three starts this season and winner of the grade one Tolworth hurdle, Tahmuras may have gone under the radar thanks to heavily favoured market leader Facile Vega. Tahmuras impressed at Sandown in late January and showed efficiency in travelling, before pulling hard on the bridle late on and accelerating impressively in the final two furlongs. He was green and wandered quite inefficiently in the closing stages after flattening a few hurdles. He was still able to put daylight between himself and the likes of Nemean Lion in third, who won a grade two in his next start. This horse should improve before the festival and Paul Nicholls has said he has schooled well since then. Like last year’s winner Constitution Hill, the Tolworth hurdle he won doesn’t offer many clues on paper. However, Tahmuras visually appears to have a lot of ability and he should be in the picture. Willie Mullins’ market leader Facile Vega still heads the market but was an odds on chance until he finished a disappointing fifth at the Dublin Racing Festival last month. He got into a battle up front on that occasion and ran his race before turning into the home straight. Il Etait Temps was an impressive winner on that occasion and showed plenty of stamina. If Paul Townend can keep Facile Vega more reserved when travelling he could easily take this contest but Tahmuras’ price works out well each way and with improvement will have a great chance. After a hard run just a month before the festival for Facile Vega and a first blemish on the record, taking Mullins’ runner on each way could be a good move.
14:10 – Sporting Life Challenge Trophy Novices’ Chase (Grade 1) – Jonbon
ONE of the most anticipated runners at this year’s festival is Nicky Henderson’s Jonbon in the Arkle. With eight wins from nine starts, his only defeat came in last year’s Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. The eventual winner was Constitution Hill, who is now a heavy odds on favourite for the Champion Hurdle and finished last season as Timeform’s highest rated novice ever. Jonbon has a grade one novice chase to his name after winning the Henry VIII Novices’ Chase at Sandown in December. His latest run was last month, when he won the Kingmaker at Warwick in a match race against Dan Skelton’s Calico. His only rival was rated 23lbs lower, but Calico gave Jonbon a scare when he stole the lead early before the final bend and took the race to him. Jonbon was expected to win with ease but match races are often tactical and his rival appeared to catch him off guard after a poor jump.It looked awkward but Jonbon did well to come from behind and ultimately still won with ease. He boasts form over his main market rival El Fabiolo, as he beat Willie Mullins’ runner at Aintree by a neck last season. Considering this was just a month after Cheltenham, it was a big ask of Jonbon who showed heart to see off his rival on that occasion and it should be a repeat here.
14:50 – Ultima Handicap Chase (Premier Handicap) – Into Overdrive
INTERESTINGLY, northern-based runners haven’t had much success at the festival, with just three winners since 2012. However, came in the most recent renewals of the Ultima with Vintage Clouds in 2021 and Corach Rambler last season. Mark Walford will be looking for his first success at the Cheltenham Festival while representing the North when Into Overdrive lines up on day one and he has some interesting form. He won a premier handicap chase at Wetherby, before stepping up in trip to take on grade one winner as a novice L’homme Presse to finish second by a length. He then beat Sounds Russian at Wetherby on Boxing Day in the Rowland Meyrick Handicap Chase. Sounds Russian is a horse who was a close runner-up to Ahoy Senor in the grade two Cotswold Chase the following month and is entered in the Gold Cup. Despite receiving plenty of weight on both occasions, he will only carry 5lbs more than his previous run and has shown how dangerous he is when carrying a fair weight. He missed a planned run in January due to having a dirty scope but Walford has reported the horse has recovered and is ready for Cheltenham.
15:30 – Champion Hurdle (Grade 1) – Constitution Hill
UNFORTUNATELY from a writing perspective, this year’s Champion Hurdle market looks like it has been shut down in anticipation of possible domination from Constitution Hill. He ran out an impressive winner of the grade one Christmas Hurdle at Kempton by 17 lengths to second place Epatante, who is a former Champion Hurdle winner herself. On top of this, the form from last season’s Supreme Hurdle success shapes up impressively with Arkle favourite Jonbon finishing 22 lengths behind this horse in second. There are special markets for betting without Constitution Hill but State Man similarly dominates these markets at around 1/3 at the time of writing. The Michael Buckley owned runner seems to be a good thing, with the only concern for trainer Nicky Henderson being the fact it is hard to find horses who are good enough to work with him when training.
16:10 – David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle – Marie’s Rock
IN recent times, Marie’s Rock has become increasingly consistent at a high level, which explains her favouritism ahead of two former champion hurdlers. She is the reigning champion in this race and her last run was a win over course and distance in the grade two Relkeel Hurdle in January. She consistently runs at this distance, and showed excellent stamina in that run, seeing off Dashel Drasher who has strong staying qualities. She even had an entry in the Stayers’ Hurdle until recently which is ran over three miles. The reason this staying ability will be at a premium here is with the addition of Epatante and star mare Honeysuckle to the field, there is likely to be a strong pace, but a strong stayer could fend off both runners. Honeysuckle, despite having won this race in 2020 and multiple grade ones at two miles four furlongs, hasn’t been herself this season. Strong staying types like Teahupoo and Klassical Dream easily passed her in the closing stages of the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle at the start of the season. Even when she was undefeated, Ronald Pump who lacks grade one success, came within half-a-length of her in the Hatton’s Grace in 2020. Epatante won her only grade one at this distance, the Aintree Hurdle, last year. Aintree is flat in nature and doesn’t present the stamina test of the stiff, uphill finish at Cheltenham. Love Envoi could also be in the picture here for similar reasons but Marie’s Rock gets the pick due to her eye-catching acceleration.
16:50 – Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle (Premier Handicap) – Sir Allen
THIS horse has taken to hurdles well since recovering from an injury towards the back end of the flat season. In his final start on the flat he was only rated 70, but over hurdles has achieved two wins and a second place finish. This came in his first run of the season to none other than Blood Destiny, the joint-favourite for the Triumph Hurdle and it was only by five lengths. Despite Blood Destiny making it look like a light piece of work, Sir Allen kept with the pace well until very late on as Blood Destiny gradually pulled away with ease. This compares well to the form of Tekao, who is the favourite at the time of writing. Tekao recently finished third in a grade one juvenile hurdle at Leopardstown last month, finishing behind the other leading horse in the Triumph Hurdle market, Lossiemouth. It looks like the best form in the field on paper, but he lost by ten lengths, lost ground rapidly in the finish and has form finishing behind Jazzy Matty who also runs here. Jazzy Matty’s form after the two met has left a lot to be desired and he even lost to this horse last month at Naas. It isn’t a certainty but at his current price this horse has better claims than may be apparent.
17:30 – Wellchild National Hunt Challenge Cup Amateur Jockeys’ Novices’ Chase (Grade 2) – Gaillard Du Mesnil
THIS horse is currently the market leader and was last seen finishing third behind Mighty Potter in the grade one Ladbrokes Novice Chase at Leopardstown last month. There is no shame in losing to the multiple grade one chaser, but it was ran at a distance under three miles. Over staying distances, this horse has managed a grade one victory in the Neville Hotels Novice Chase in December, ahead of Churchstonewarrior who also runs here. He also finished third in last year’s renewal of the grade one Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at the festival, just under two lengths behind Ahoy Senor in second. Ahoy Senor was a grade one novice over fences and will run in the Gold Cup later this week. This form, along with a third place effort in the Irish Grand National last year, tells us this horse is a strong stayer who will be suited to the long trip. Gaillard Du Mesnil already has form ahead of one of the key runners here and arguably has faced the strongest horses out of anyone in the field.
Hawkinsport 