Chepstow Tips: Road to Cheltenham Best Bets for Jump Season Opener

It’s Chepstow, it’s October and that means only one thing: it’s the ‘opening’ of the Jump Season. Most of the top British yards are represented this weekend, with Paul Nicholls holding a strong hand over the two day meeting.

The Grade 2 Persian War Novices’ Hurdle is the feature on Friday’s card while the Silver Trophy Handicap Hurdle looks as competitive as ever on Saturday afternoon. Here, I’ll take you through a few of my leading fancies over the weekend.

John McConnell has enjoyed plenty of success in Great Britain over the last five years, operating at a respectable 21% strike rate. He’s had three winners from 10 runners over hurdles in Britain this season and he can make that four on Friday afternoon.

INTENSE APPROACH has put a bit of a run together after a tough start to life over hurdles and he is chasing a three-timer, courtesy of wins at Downpatrick and Kelso. This is a much tougher assignment but he has the rating to win – and he’s match fit.

The booking of Harry Cobden only boosts his chances of claiming Graded glory and I’m hoping that the current weather forecast is right and the rain stays away. He wouldn’t want it to get too testing underfoot.

I’ve always been a fan of LIARI and I’m willing to give him the benefit of doubt after he was pulled up in the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham. He was sent off the 9/2 second favourite that day but had a genuine excuse for underperforming.

He was subsequently dropped 3lbs to a mark of 131 for that run and I think he’s got a bit of juice in that rating. Charlie Davies, assistant trainer to Paul Nicholls, was quite keen on his chances earlier this week and I’d say he should go very close.

Roaring Legend is the main danger for me – I liked his performance last time out and he is 7lbs better off at the weights than he was when finishing five lengths adrift of Liari in the Listed Scottish Triumph Hurdle at Musselburgh in February.

Dan Skelton will be chomping at the bit to open the season with a nice pot and DOYEN QUEST ticks a lot of boxes for a race like this. I can’t say I was too surprised to see Harry Skelton choose him out of the yard’s three runners in the race.

He looks like a proper progressive type and I’d expect this son of Doyen to improve again this season. He went up just 10lbs for back-to-back wins at Newbury and Cheltenham and he could still have scope in his official rating of 122.

The trainer knows how to get one ready first time up and he is brilliant when it comes to targeting these weekend handicaps. Doyen Quest really impressed me at Cheltenham in April and if he’s fit and ready to go, he could be very dangerous off a low racing weight.