Andy Holding is recommending a small split stakes investment on two Lucinda Russell horses for the Brown Advisory at the Cheltenham Festival 2024.
Brown Advisory Novices Chase
It’s early days yet in the 2023/24 National Hunt season, but we’ve already seen Lucinda Russell unleash some useful talent onto the racecourse and looking at the entries at Cheltenham this coming weekend, there’s every chance racegoers might get to see one her stable stars, Giovinco, strut his stuff on chasing debut.
The Showcase Meeting at Cheltenham: Dates, Schedule & Ante-Post Odds
Cheltenham Festival 2024 Ante-Post Preview
After landing a couple of low-key hurdle events at Ayr and Carlisle respectively, connections toyed with the ideal of running Giovinco, the son of Walk In The Park in the Grade 1 Sefton Novices’ Hurdle at the Aintree Grand National meeting, but in the end, they decided to play a more conservative game and go for a listed prize at Perth.
Sent off at 10/1 and facing several useful sorts from powerful southern stables, he impressed with the way he travelled throughout the three-mile journey and when sent to the front after jumping the second last, he quickened up in smart fashion to pull readily clear of his toiling rivals.
Despite being eased down close home, he still managed to post a very fast time figure for a novice and with him roughed off for the season at that juncture, it left all those concerned with the six-year-old dreaming of many big days further down the line.
Bought with the larger obstacles in mind after winning an Irish point, he is in the care of arguably one of the best trainers of staying chasers in the game and with the engine and scope to mix it at the very highest level with anything either side of the Irish Sea.
A good start to his new vocation at the home of National Hunt racing should see his odds for the Brown Advisory Chase in March at the 2024 Cheltenham Festival tumble appreciably.
To highlight the embarrassment of riches the Arlary handler has in all departments, Apple Away is another who could easily make the grade as a top-class chaser and it’s interesting that she too has an entry in the same novices’ event at Cheltenham on Saturday.
While Giovinco stayed closer to home, the daughter of Arctic Cosmos flew the flag for the yard in the Grade 1 contest at the Merseyside venue and despite being dismissed in the market (sent off 16/1), she belied those odds with considerable ease.
Appearing to win on merit on the day - highlighted by the fact she had two Festival winners behind her in the shape of Stay Away Fay and Iroko – she followed in the footsteps of Ahoy Senor, who landed the very same race two years earlier.
With stamina very much her key component, three miles over fences (not to mention her mares’ allowance) should see her a potent force throughout the coming months.
Cheltenham Festival Tips from Andy Holding
Whichever one of GIOVINCO or APPLE AWAY does duty at Prestbury Park this weekend, the valuable experience they gain will surely stand them in good stead for a possible return later in the season. At their current odds, a small split stakes investment on each for the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase 2024 might not be the worst strategy in the world.
