Cheltenham – Page 2 – Hawkinsport

Cheltenham Festival 2023 Day 2: My Picks

13:30 – Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1) – Hermes Allen

PAUL Nicholls’ runner was the long time ante-post favourite for this race, until Willie Mullins’ Impaire Et Passe ran out an impressive winner of the grade two Moscow Flyer in January. Hermes Allen impressively won the trial for this race in November, showing very slick jumping on good ground and thoroughly saw out the half-mile uphill finish. He also followed this up by winning the grade one Challow Hurdle when he was last seen in December. The conditions there were soft and very testing on stamina. Again, he passed this test with flying colours and beat the likes of Marble Sands, Crambo and You Wear It Well who all went on to success in graded or listed events. His form against British rivals is unquestionably brilliant but now he will have to face the best of the Irish. His versatility, stamina and ability to gain lengths over hurdles should make him deceivingly hard to reach for some of the classy Irish contenders whatever the conditions are on the day. Nicholls has said he perhaps would have preferred better ground in the Challow run but his class came through and said he has a good chance.

14:10 – Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase (Grade 1) – Sir Gerhard

THIS race looks wide open on paper and it is possible one of the other runners could take advantage of the fact this horse is lacking prep runs over fences. This horse is surely the one with the highest ceiling in this field. He was the Champion Bumper winner in 2021 and Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle winner last season, showing prolific festival form. Willie Mullins has only been able to get one run into this horse over fences this season due to injury and he was a doubt for Cheltenham in December. He looked just as athletic as before on seasonal debut in late January, but his jumping was a worry, specifically early on. Mullins has suggested longer trip than usual of three miles will be run at a slightly slower pace and will make the jumping easier. He is capable of improving a horse off the track and the horse’s ability and stamina should see him overcome this field when stepping up in distance. Gerri Colombe is unbeaten in eight starts and has two grade one chases to his name as a novice, so it is easy to see why he leads the market. He did make hard work of things last time at Sandown and that form isn’t the strongest with those in behind unsuccessful at graded level over fences. The likes of Thyme Hill and The Real Whacker should be in the picture and will likely capitalise if Sir Gerhard’s jumping hasn’t improved.

15:30 – Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase (Grade 1) – Edwardstone

LAST year’s Arkle winner rarely runs a bad race and kicked off the season by winning the grade one Tingle Creek at Sandown ahead of multiple grade one winners. These included the defending champion Greaneteen, an out of sorts Shishkin, who is now a strong favourite for the Ryanair Chase and Gentleman De Mee who won the Dublin Chase last month. Edwardstone then unseated his rider in the Desert Orchid Chase at Kempton in December, before coming a close second in the Clarence House Chase in January. The grade one contest was rescheduled for the January meeting at Cheltenham, due to frozen ground at Ascot and it produced interesting course form. The reigning champion chaser Energumene finished six lengths behind this horse and the winner was a game Editeur Du Gite who made most of the running. Editeur Du Gite used a lot of effort in the run and his battling qualities were what helped him fend off Edwardstone who had the speed to win had the race been a few metres longer. Alan King’s runner comes here with confirmed form ahead of multiple top class horses and has built valuable experience during his first season as a novice. If he reproduces a performance like the one that saw him claim the Tingle Creek, Edwardstone will be hard to beat.

16:10 – Glenfarclas Chase (Cross Country Chase) – Delta Work

THIS pick may depend on the ground, with this horse likely to benefit from soft-heavy going. Gordon Elliott dominated this race last season where fan favourite and dual Grand National winner Tiger Roll was hoping for the perfect swan song. Delta Work spoiled the party with a gutsy performance to see off a prolific Cheltenham Festival winner and a special horse. He followed that victory with a third place finish in the Grand National the following month. At the January meeting here on the same course, Back On The Lash won by just over four lengths ahead of this horse in third. On that occasion Delta Work was a stone and 9lbs worse off in the weights than the eventual winner, with an abundance of horses finishing behind who also run here. His most recent run at Navan was very disappointing but it was over hurdles which may have worked against this horse and Blazing Khal was an impressive winner. It is important to mention the main threat is Galvin who is stepping down from graded company and is a standout name in this field. However, last season’s Gold Cup fourth has been underwhelming in his last two starts but isn’t without a chance because he is facing lower rated horses while carrying the same weight. Davy Russell takes the ride and the ground is widely believed to be changing in his favour, but as long as the ground description remains soft this race leans towards Delta Work who has shown better form.

17:30 – Weatherbys Champion Bumper (Standard Open NH Flat Race) (Grade 1) – Fun Fun Fun

IN recent years Willie Mullins has had frightening strength in depth at his disposal, especially with regards to bumpers. This horse gets the pick here mainly due to winning a grade two bumper at Leopardstown last month. The prize money guaranteed that this horse would face a field that boasted some winners. One of these was Lily Du Berlais who won a listed event in February last year where she finished ahead of Liberty Dance, who went on to win a listed novice hurdle. Fun Fun Fun beat her rival by nine lengths, making it a good piece of form that catches the eye in a bumper like this. Stablemate It’s For Me won impressively at Navan in January but there wasn’t an abundance of eventual winners in the race. The current favourite, Dream To Share, won a grade two last month, emphatically beating Fact To File in the process. He is a good horse who could easily win, but Fun Fun Fun will carry 7lbs less than most of her rivals due to the mares’ allowance.

Cheltenham Festival 2023 Day 1: My Picks

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.

Cheltenham Festival 2022 – Day 4 Tips

13:30 – JCB Triumph Hurdle (Grade 1) – Fil D’or

Fil D’or will be in the experienced hands of Davy Russell and was long time antepost favourite for this race. A breath-taking display here by Pied Piper in late January and a brave effort in defeat to Vauban at the Dublin Festival saw this horse drift slightly. Vauban did show some weaknesses in victory, with his jumping relatively clumsy before getting smarter in the closing stages. However, the hill in the straight at Cheltenham is longer in distance than the one at Leopardstown which should help Fil D’or out. Jumping fluency at Cheltenham is also important due to the regularity of the hurdles and the undulations. As mentioned before Pied Piper has strong claims and he also has form ahead of Vauban from December. Despite this Fil D’or rarely puts a foot wrong when jumping, has lots of stamina and Cheltenham could really suit him.

14:10 – McCoy Contractors County Handicap Hurdle (Grade 3) – West Cork

With the form some of his runners have been in this season it is a bit surprising that Dan Skelton hasn’t yet trained a winner at this season’s festival. West Cork won the competitive grade three Greatwood Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham in November, after 631 days off the course ahead of the likes of Adagio. He was carrying top weight and ran in the Champion Hurdle a few days ago, a higher level race despite not making an impression there. Camprond was six lengths back in 4^th and had won a grade two earlier in the season so has quality. Further back was Marie’s Rock who won the Mares’ Hurdle earlier in this meeting and appears to be a big scalp after her recent achievement. He will carry 11st 1lb, only 2lb higher than the weight he carried to victory last time he was seen here. This means he will carry 4lb less than Alan King trained Tritonic who beat this horse at Ascot when he was last seen in December. West Cork suffered a niggle in this run which may have affected the result and has been kept fresh for the festival as a result.

14:50 – Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1) – Hillcrest

Well known for being one of the biggest horses in training, Henry Daly’s Hillcrest is too big for a measuring stick 18 hands long. He has great ability to go with that size however, with his huge galloping stride making him a respected runner here. He claimed the listed Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle here in January ahead of the smart I Am Maximus, but a step up to three miles was always going to suit. He looks like a horse built for chasing with Daly saying anything he does over hurdles would be a bonus but he might just have the ability. A worry would be that he only ran 28 days ago on heavy ground. His trainer has said it wasn’t a particularly tasking run but wasn’t ideal. He needed a run before Cheltenham and Aintree after he unseated jockey Richard Patrick early in a grade two at Cheltenham in January. He has grade two and listed success and Daly has decided to run him here instead of Aintree so the winner at listed and grade two level must be good to go.

15:30 – Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup (Grade 1) – A Plus Tard

Runner-up in this race last year, A Plus Tard was last seen at Leopardstown in December, where he was narrowly defeated by Galvin in the Savills Chase when tiring in the closing stages. He was produced a bit earlier than Galvin, who was in cover turning for home and this might mean he had important stamina left at the end. This horse kept pace with Minella Indo in last year’s renewal and was gaining late on. If he can reproduce something similar here he has every chance. He has a grade one under his belt this term, after winning the Betfair Chase in November at Haydock. His trainer Henry De Bromhead has stated that he ran well in defeat last time and is happy with both runs. Rachael Blackmore had the choice of the out of form Minella Indo, last year’s winner, or this horse and she has sided with the Cheveley Park runner.

16:10 – St. James’s Place Festival Challenge Cup Open Hunters’ Chase – Winged Leader

Winged Leader has great form coming into this, with a hattrick of hunters’ chase victories, including an impressive win at Thurles where Billaway finished 12 lengths behind. Billaway is normally well backed in these contests and was the runner-up of this race last season. Winged Leader has shown good ability on undulating courses in previous runs and is a very efficient, slick jumper. Trainer David Christie has said that this is his best chance of getting his first Cheltenham Festival winner and is confident his charge can handle different types of ground.

16:50 – Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase (Grade 2) – Mount Ida

Mount Ida won the Kim Muir at last year’s festival and was subsequently beaten by Elimay at Fairyhouse in April. She has since avenged this form by beating Elimay at Fairyhouse in January last time we saw her. This run shows progression too, because in defeat to Elimay, Mount Ida carried 6lbs less than her. In their most recent run Mount Ida carried 3lbs more than her rival and won well after being bumped in the straight. The run deserves a lot of credit as the uphill finish at Fairyhouse is draining and she only tired as she hit the line. She will face Willie Mullins’ Concertista, who is two wins from two so far over fences. However, despite winning the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle in 2020, she has been runner-up in two Cheltenham Festivals and might get beat by a tough mare whose next target is the Grand National.

17:30 – Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle – Hollow Games

Hollow Games will carry 11st 9lbs here but he has been running well in defeat in grade one company. He only finished a couple of lengths behind the winners of these races, Ginto and Minella Coocooner. This horse has also reversed form with Grand Jury who finished 2^nd in the race behind Ginto, but since finished a disappointing 6^thin the latter mentioned race where Hollow Games showed much more quality. This race does represent a step down in trip compared to his previous start and he does look like a stayer, but despite the distance this race has suited novice staying types in the past. Last season’s winner, Galopin Des Champs is a clear staying type with Champagne Classic another previous winner with graded form over the stayers’ distance. This horse is a grade three winner and did so ahead of Lunar Display. Lunar Display doesn’t necessarily win many but has placed in five graded/listed events and won once at that level. This shows a level of consistency and it might see him do well in a handicap. Wears a tongue tie for the first time.