Jake Price casts his eye over the week's racing action, plus provides two ante-post tips for the Cheltenham Festival.
Hallgarten and Novum Wines Juvenile (Fred Winter) Handicap Hurdle
Cheltenham Trials Day took centre stage in providing us with more Festival clues this week, and as such I will be reviewing most of the eight-race card with my Ante-Post hat on.
We also have the small matter of the Dublin Racing Festival at Leopardstown, which is arguably the most important weekend of the whole season when it comes to the Cheltenham Festival.
As well as reviewing the action which has commenced, I will also be having a quick look forward.
WEEK IN REVIEW
We start our review of the week on Thursday at Gowran, where the ground was officially described as Heavy after the meeting survived an inspection that morning.
HOME BY THE LEE dug deep in the Grade 2 Galmoy Hurdle to record a deserved success, but his Stayers Hurdle credentials are limited by his tender age of 11.
In the Thyestes NOW IS THE HOUR made the most of SPANISH HARLEM’s final flight unseat, but Gavin Cromwell’s immediate plans to go back to the National Hunt Handicap Chase have been quickly squashed by the Irish assessor raising him 8lbs to a mark of 149 – and that is before any British tax is added.
Saturday brought an eagerly anticipated Trials Day, which kicked off with a Novices’ Handicap Chase that has produced many Cheltenham Festival winners and runners-up in recent seasons.
I am currently unsure if that will be the case this time around however, as JORDANS CROSS dug deep to narrowly deny QUEBECOIS.
I would imagine that if either horse is going to win in March they would need to be stepping up from this intermediate trip, and perhaps the winner would be suited by something like the Ultima Handicap Chase – a race which was also mentioned for the second.
Despite being keen half-way, I wasn’t overly impressed by MAESTRO CONTI in the context of a Triumph Hurdle either.
Despite him clearly being a lovely prospect for the future, I don’t think beating ONE HORSE TOWN by 2 lengths in receipt of weight is form anywhere near that of the Irish.
He obviously can only beat what is put in front of him, but I think his Ante-Post price of 9/1 is on the short side.
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Elsewhere at Doncaster the tenacious MANGANESE also lowered the colours of once Triumph Hurdle favourite MANLAGA, who shouldn’t be troubling the Juvenile top table.
Staying away from Presbury Park for the moment, Paul Nolan enjoyed a fantastic day at Doncaster on Saturday with a Grade 2 double.
I wrote in last week’s article ‘THEDEVILUNO could yet boost the form this weekend in either the Classic at Cheltenham or the River Don at Doncaster’, and boy did he do that in the River Don.
On his first try over three miles, he tanked into the race under Sean O’Keeffe – and it became a question as to how far he would win by.
The final winning distance was 5 lengths, but he was very much eased once his job was complete.
As such our selection DOCTOR STEINBERG received a huge form boost, and he has now been backed into 6/1f for the Albert Bartlett as a result.
The double was completed by FEET OF A DANCER in the Yorkshire Rose, who was gallant in victory when outstaying her rivals.
She could be interesting in the Mares Hurdle if it were to be testing ground.
Back at Cheltenham it was an agonising defeat for punters with JAGWAR looking every inch the winner but not getting the job done.
The handicapper hasn’t gone over the top in raising him 3lbs to a new mark of 152, but I would imagine that he needs to step up in trip now to unlock the necessary further improvement.
His price of 7/1 for the Ultima does not rush me to get involved, mind.
In the Cross County FAVORI DE CHAMPDOU absolutely bolted up off a mark of 149, and the big question will be whether he can defy an impending hike in the weights for the rematch in March.
The big Grade 2 races provided surprise after surprise, starting off with GREY DAWNING putting in a disappointing effort in the Cotswold Chase.
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Despite taking a nasty kick at the start he didn’t look to have any further excuses.
He clearly did not have a hard race in his all-important preparation for the Gold Cup, but he certainly didn’t enhance his reputation either.
The winner SPILLANE’S TOWER dug deep under a good Jack Kennedy ride, so it was nice to see that he handles Cheltenham – but whether he is good enough to win a Gold Cup is still up for debate.
The whole of Cheltenham fell silent during the International Hurdle, as SIR GINO was pulled up after the third last flight.
Understandably many feared the worst, but the latest update is that he has fractured his pelvis, and the hope is that he will be able to recover from this injury.
His absence in the Champion Hurdle division leaves it wide open however, and I don’t think THE NEW LION really enhanced his claims in winning a sprint up the hill against inferior rivals.
He will be put into a completely different race on the 10th March, and still has plenty of questions to answer in my book.
Perhaps the most likeable performance on the day came from MA SHANTOU though, who was imperious in the Grade 2 Cleeve Hurdle.
He began this campaign rated just 129, but he is now up to a mark of 154 after beating IMPOSE TOI by a widening seven lengths.
The Nicky Henderson favourite certainly didn’t run to the same sort of level that we have seen from him in the first half of the season, and as such even a 6lbs turnaround might struggle to see the form reversed with the Emma Lavelle winner.
He is now into 8/1 for the Stayers Hurdle, which looks a fair enough price.
Lastly on Sunday I was thoroughly impressed with the debut of LOVE SIGN D’AUNOU, who ran out an extremely easy winner of the Bumper at Naas.
He set the fractions out in front under Patrick Mullins, but he ultimately turned away each challenger one by one.
It was a performance of a real grinder, but the fact he won by 24 lengths has to mark him out as an extremely smart horse.
Willie Mullins’ Bumper team is starting to take shape now, but he is a deserving 7/1 favourite for the Champion Bumper at this stage.
NEWS ROUNDUP
We get plenty of news updates regarding Cheltenham horses on a daily basis this time of year, so in this section I will round up all of the most important bits which you may have missed.
The main story so far this week surrounds the injury to SIR GINO, but thankfully he is now ‘comfortable and stable’ which is fantastic news.
We will all continue to have our fingers crossed that he makes a full recovery.
This week we also saw plenty more plans confirmed, with REGENT’S STROLL set to go straight to the Jack Richards Novices’ Handicap Chase for Paul Nicholls.
Dan Skelton has confirmed plans for some of his string too, with BE AWARE set to run in the Grand Annual Handicap Chase, whilst LIVE CONTI will bid to extend his trainer’s impressive record in the County Handicap Hurdle.
There was also a big gamble on JERIKO DU REPONET for the Kim Muir on Tuesday, after the British Handicapper saw it fit to drop his mark by 3lbs to that all important rating of 145.
THE WEEK AHEAD
I was excited to get to Cheltenham this time last week, but I am even more excited to fly across to Ireland on Friday ahead of the Dublin Racing Festival.
Hysteria ensued on Tuesday morning when videos of a waterlogged Leopardstown began to circulate following a monumental 58mm of rain, but by 6pm that had all been drained and we look set for a cracking weekend of action.
Gordon Elliott moved to confirm that ROMEO COOLIO will contest the Irish Arkle, which should be a fascinating race assuming KOPEK DES BORDES is able to bounce back from the minor surgery which ruled him out of the Christmas period.
The first two races will be big for this column however, as in the opener DOCTOR STEINBERG is currently the even money favourite for the Nathaniel Lacey Novice Hurdle.
Should he win that in the testing ground, then he will be a very short priced favourite for the Albert Bartlett.
In the next race we see what to me is a long-awaited rematch between NARCISO HAS and our Triumph Hurdle pick MANGE TOUT.
The market has this as a forgone conclusion that the Fairyhouse form will be reversed, but I am adamant that it is not as clear cut as the odds of 8/11 and 3/1 suggest.
Our Filly is going to be 4lbs better off at the weights, and that crucially means she will carry 7lbs less than the gelding on what will be very testing ground.
I think she is a clear bet on Saturday, and if she is able to win then she may well end up assuming Triumph Hurdle favouritism.
Elsewhere there are plenty of fascinating clashes including LOSSIEMOUTH vs BRIGHTERDAYSAHEAD in the Irish Champion Hurdle, MARINE NATIONALE vs MAJBOROUGH in the Dublin Chase, FINAL DEMAND vs KAID D’AUTHIE in the 2m5f Novice Chase, and of course the return of GALOPIN DES CHAMPS in the Irish Gold Cup.
There will be an unbelievable amount of Cheltenham Festival clues, and I will be reviewing them all this time next week!
CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL ANTE-POST SELECTION
This week I am diving into the handicaps for the first time, and I am starting off with a race which has been kind to me in the past.
I love monitoring the Fred Winter form lines year on year, and I am extremely excited by the prospects of SARATOGA for Padraig Roche this time around.
This Juvenile started his career on the Flat where he ran 6 times for Aidan O’Brien, and in that sphere he reached a good rating of 92.
He even ended his Flat career by picking up £14.3k for finishing fifth in the Group 1 Long Distance Cup at Ascot on Champions Day.
Once he was done on the Flat he was switched to JP McManus however, and sent down to County Kildare to go into Jumps training.
You may wonder why Padraig Roche was the chosen destination for this beautiful grey rather than someone more traditional like Joseph O’Brien, but that is quickly answered by the fact that he is a half-brother to Brazil – who won the Fred Winter for the same connections in 2022 when he infamously denied Gaelic Warrior.
He was given a very similar preparation for Cheltenham in that he moved from Aidan to Padraig in the Autumn before getting qualified.
The other reason why Padraig is a perfect destination is because he has done a brilliant job for JP McManus in this race – with his only other runner Sundial finishing fourth in 2023.
SARATOGA began his jumping career at Punchestown in a Maiden Hurdle on New Year’s Eve, and it looked a decent enough race on paper with the likes of Immediate Effect and Mino Des Mottes lining up.
The Willie Mullins favourite disappointed, but Mark Walsh gave our selection a very educational ride – as he was caught too far back before flying home in the closing stages in eye-catching fashion.
The winner Immediate Effect looked decent mind, and he will take his chance in the Grade 1 Spring Juvenile on Saturday.
His second qualifying run came at Naas on Sunday, and this was a work of art from Mark Walsh to ensure that he did not go on and score.
It again looked a hot race with Willie Mullins sending three French Recruits, but it was Kai Lung who ended up making the running after they dawdled at the start.
Coming up the straight our selection was travelling almost best of all though, and at one stage Mark angled his mount around a fence marking the course to lose some momentum – but eventually he ran on strongly for a very well contrived third place effort.
Connections essentially now have two options; you either find a really bad Maiden Hurdle which won’t affect his mark too badly should he win it, or he can run in the infamous 4YO Rated Hurdle back at Naas on the 7th February which has produced many Fred Winter winners down the years – including Brazil who scored by 13 lengths on route to Cheltenham.
Hopefully our selection doesn’t win by the same sort of margin, but come what March he is surely going to take some stopping off what will hopefully be a very workable mark.
National Hunt Novices Handicap Chase
The other Horse I want to get on side this week comes in the National Hunt Chase, which looks like an extremely under-developed market.
A few favourites have come and gone including the aforementioned NOW IS THE HOUR, and the latest to be backed into a short price is Argento Boy, who is dangerously rated 144 in Ireland.
One with a profile very similar to last year’s winner however is NEWTON TORNADO, and he looks to have a lot in his favour.
This point-to-point winner was very much a slow burner over hurdles, and it took him six attempts to get off the mark in that sphere despite running some big races behind the likes of Diva Luna and Saint Palais.
Fences have been the making of him however, and on Day 1 at Cheltenham in October he was jumping like a buck around the Old Course – but he seemed to lose concentration at the fourth last when taking a novicey fall.
He learnt a lot from that Cheltenham mistake when making amends at Bangor in November however, as this time around he relished the step up in trip to three miles on Heavy ground.
He was only running off a mark of 120, but he completely dominated the race and won by a very easy 9 lengths.
The market did not think an 8lbs rise would be enough to stop him when he turned up at Newbury on the 29th December to follow up either, but he rather stopped himself once more when making a bad mistake at the first down the back straight, and he was swiftly pulled up.
On Saturday he really outlined his credentials for the National Hunt Chase however, as off a mark of 127 he made a complete mockery of his rivals.
It looked a competitive enough race on paper at Doncaster, and he wasn’t that strongly fancied having drifted out to an SP of 9/2 – but he really did win as he liked.
Dylan Johnston was at pains to take up the running with him, but he was travelling so easy that he took himself there, before staying on strongly to score by 6.5 lengths.
Despite the testing ground he ate up that three-mile trip, and he looks made for marathon distances.
It is also worth noting that he recorded a time two seconds quicker than the preceding Great Yorkshire Handicap Chase, despite carrying 10lbs more than the winner of that Premier contest.
Straight after the race trainer Rebecca Curtis outlined the National Hunt Chase as his target, and the only thing left to determine his chances was the assessor’s opinion of his Doncaster rout.
In my view a 6lbs rise for that win is more than fair, and it means that his new mark of 133 is just 2lbs lower than what Haiti Couleurs had this time twelve months ago.
You would imagine that either Dylan Johnston or Ben Jones would take the ride in March, and both have been in fantastic form recently.
I can see this lad being very well supported when people start to notice his achievements.
Jake Price's Cheltenham Festival Portfolio
HONESTY POLICY – Stayers Hurdle @ 16/1 – Now 4/1
ACT OF INNOCENCE – Supreme @ 20/1 – Now 50/1
MANGE TOUT – Triumph @ 10/1 – Now 10/1
LA CONQUIERE – Mares Novice @ 12/1 – Now 16/1
JONBON – Ryanair @ 16/1 – Now 8/1
DOCTOR STEINBERG – Albert Bartlett @ 16/1 – Now 6/1
SARATOGA – Fred Winter @ 12/1 – Now 12/1
NEWTON TORNADO – NH Chase @ 12/1 – Now 12/1
