Cheltenham Tips: Andy Holding's Friday Racing Tips

This juvenile championship race has a totally different feel to it with hot ante-post favourite Sir Gino declared a non-runner on account of his yard’s poor form and the two who make the most appeal in his absence are NURBURGRING (tipped 7/1)  and KARGESE (tipped 13/2).

The former represents a team who landed the other big juvenile race of the festival and he looks just the type who should be suited by the rigours of this test. The way he stayed on to get the better of Kala Conti in one of the most strongly run juvenile contests of the season at Fairyhouse back in December marked him down likeable type with a good attitude and he may have added to that Grade 3 success had the pace not been so pedestrian at Leopardstown when last seen. 

A strong stayer at the trip who acts on any ground, Joseph O’Brien’s inmate has all the right qualities to follow in the footsteps of Ivanovich Gorbatov, who landed this prize for the Co Kilkenny handler back in 2016.

The latter landed one of the premier form guides to the Triumph Hurdle in recent years at the DRF and there didn’t appear to be any fluke about the result. Cruising into the lead on the run to the last, her superiority over her rivals was underplayed due to the fact she idled on the run-in and it’s hard to see her not having a large say in the outcome of this race over a track that will play into her strengths.

KING OF KINGSFIELD (tipped 5/1) has been a long-term fancy for this race and with Gordon Elliott’s gelding’s form lines having a real strong feel to them, something unforeseen happening during the two-mile journey is the only thing that can prevent him from executing the plan. 

Picked off by subsequent Supreme hero Slade Steel when a sitting duck from the front at Naas earlier in the season, the son of Vadamos responded well to more patient tactics in the Grade 1 Royal Bond at Fairyhouse next time, and if his challenge had been delayed a little longer, he may have well walked away with the main prize. 

Held up in the rear in a similar contest at Leopardstown last time out, he couldn’t quite lay a glove on Ballyburn (and Slade Steel) in the latter stages but he did keep on willingly to finish an honourable third in easily the best pre-Cheltenham two-mile novice event either side of the Irish Sea - and as we saw here on day two, he was up against a bit of a monster. 

A strong traveller with a useful turn of foot, no doubt Jack Kennedy will be given instructions to keep his powder dry until the long run down to the last and he is likely to take some stopping once in full cry.

A race that often goes to a dyed-in-the-wool stayer and not necessarily one with the most obvious credentials and of those who fit into that category, LECKY WATSON (tipped 12/1) could easily prove the joker in the pack.

Good enough to finish fourth in last season’s Champion Bumper, Willie Mullins’ inmate has taken to his new vocation well and his effort when chasing home subsequent Supreme hero Slade Steel in the Navan Novices’ Hurdle was a sure sign he is just as good with obstacles in his way. 

A little scruffy over his hurdles and keener than ideal in the Lawlor's Of Naas last time, the sporting of the first-time hood will hopefully pacify his exuberance in the early part of today’s race and providing that scenario does play out, the six-year-old will keep galloping when others around him have cried enough.

Only three renewals of this mares’ chase but J P McManus has taken two of them and there’s a decent chance the famous green and gold colours will keep that trend going this season, with LIMERICK LACE (tipped 9/2) the preference over unproven stayer over the trip, Dinoblue. 

One of the most experienced chasers in the field, Gavin Cromwell’s mare has already tasted success over this side of the Irish Sea courtesy of a smooth performance at Doncaster last time out and with the speed figure she posted suggesting she had run something close to her best despite being eased down late on, she clearly arrives here right on top of her game.

Pacey enough to travel well over 2m4f and with enough stamina to finish second in the Troytown over three miles previously, the combination of those two factors makes her the obvious danger to the ante-post favourite under the prevailing conditions. 

Quai De Borbon has been one of the gambles of this concluding event and he could easily justify his place towards the head of the market if he hurdles more proficiently than he did last time out at Clonmel.

Talented though he is, however, Willie Mullins’ inmate will do well to contain similarly well-backed WATERFORD WHISPERS (NAP tipped 4/1) and the Westerner gelding is strongly fancied to round off a memorable meeting for his handler.

Off the mark at the first time of asking over hurdles at Galway, the form of that race back in October has been advertised by the runner-up since and Henry De Bromhead’s gelding went on to build on that initial effort at Fairyhouse next time.

In a race highlighted by its strong time figure for the grade, the six-year-old stayed on extremely powerfully in the closing stages to get the better of the smart ANSWER TO KAYF (tipped 9/1), and with the pair well clear of the rest, it’s been no surprise to see the race stand the test of time since. 

Undone by how the race panned out in a slowly run, tactical affair at Leopardstown when last seen, his numbers suggest he is going to be better suited by the likely stronger gallop here today and providing he obtains a relatively clear run, anything other than a prominent display will have to go down as a bit of a head scratcher. 

Of the rest, his old rival from Fairyhouse, who has gone on to score at Graded level since, could prove to be one of chief threats and might be worth a small saver just for the insurance. 

A decent field assembled for one of the track's premier races of their season and IP UP (tipped 6/1) can go a long way to add to her previous C&D success.

Sent on a long journey from her north Yorkshire based back in November, Jedd O'Keeffe's mare was noted travelling smoothly as the field headed out onto the final circuit and once picking up the running after the second last, she readily pulled clear to the tune of 18 lengths. 

Posting a smart speed figure into the bargain, she went on to duplicate a similar number in defeat at Musselburgh next time and following on was another notable victory at Newcastle two months later.

Although she arrives here off the back of another defeat, her close-up fourth at Kelso reads well in the context of today's race courtesy of the exploits of Cracking Rhapsody and Ginger Mail in the Morebattle Hurdle next time. With current conditions set to be more favourable to her than of late, a bold show looks on the cards.