Morning all, some good racing today,not so many short ones and hopefully a little less carnage than yesterday.
Reflections on yesterday….not sure the first winner is as good as everyone seems to be saying, Lossiemouth should have run in the champion hurdle (but we knew that anyway) and Joseph O’Brien is as good as I thought.
I’ll get my selections up after breakfast and dog walking duties are all done.
See later.
Chambard in the cross country.
The King of all the horses to deliver at 100/1.
👍😁🤞
Been snowing this morning in Gloucester, not sure if that affects your predictions.
13.20
The first of what should be several cracking races today. Seems like there has been a bit of snow around this morning,
I don’t think it will make any difference to the going.
Final Demand is unbeaten and could be absolutely anything, from the all conquering Mullins yard, he must take all the beating.
The New Lion is also unbeaten, he has barely come off the bridle and I would say the he is best novice in England. The Skeltons have consistently told everyone
who will listen he is potentially the best horse they have ever had ( they haven’t had many superstars to be honest, so the bar isn’t set very high).
What we have seen over the last few years is that the Irish novices are much superior to the British ones, so although The New Lion has been super impressive he may be
beating average horses.
In the betting over the last few days, Final Demand has been the stronger of the two and is now quite short at 6/4.
I am going to kick myself and can see tomorrows reflections already” why did I oppose the Irish” but at just over 5/2 on Betfair I am backing The New Lion. The one thing we know for sure, if he does win he will probably have to come of the bridle, will he find anything under pressure….we shall see.
The New Lion win.
14.00
Ballyburn will be very short, too short for me to back. I think he could be a gold cup contender next year and should win
this comfortably. Dancing City is a great horse who perhaps doesn’t get the credit he deserves, he wins lots of good races, however he has
to step up again if he is to trouble Ballyburn.
No bet
14.40
An impossible race to solve made even more impossible if that is possible, by the fact our old fav Langer Dan isn't running🙂.
Skelton still has the favourite though and with his record in the race you would be mad to ignore its chance, he is currently around 4's and I'm not sure that truly reflects his chance, i will overlook Be Aware.
There are probably about a dozen who could win this and you wouldn't be surprised, I have narrowed it down to 3.
Impose Toi, he has won on the course, goes well fresh, stays and stable in reasonable form.
Beat the bat,he jumped poorly last time out,but with this longer distance they should go a yard slower and this may help. He can go close.
Sander Clegane, has run well here before, his trainer is pretty shrewd and although he doesn't have many runners, the ones he does have tend to run well at biggish prices.
Honourable mention to Ballyadam who always runs well here and finished a great 2nd in this last year, he is getting on a bit now but looks sure to go well.
For ew bets you should be looking to get 5,6 or even 7 places.
Impose Toi ew
Beat the Bat ew
Sander Clegane ew
£5 free bet on Sky bet for Cheltenham today. Just opt in and bet £5 to get another £5
You can place a £5 bet, wait for the free bet to appear, cash out the original bet and then put the free bet on the same horse.
3.20
If this race was run over normal fences there is no way Stumptown would be able to give some of these weight, however it isn't and he seems to have raised his game over these cross country fences. He was a very cheeky winner last time, with the jockey barley moving, but he did get put up 8 pounds for it. That may be a little harsh and it might stop him, it certainly stops it making him my beat of the week, but I still fancy him strongly.
Stumptown win
4.00
Jonbon has been brilliant this season, but i do worry that Cheltenham doesn't bring out the best in him.
I don't think Energumene is the star he used to be, he was beaten comfortably by Jonbon last time out, he may get a little closer today.
Solness has been a relevation in his last two races, leading all the way and never looking in any danger, he is a danger.
In Solness's last race he beat Marine Nationale by 2 lengths, on the face of it you would wonder why Marinne Nationale could reverse the form, but Solness was given too much leeway and Marine Nationale used up too much energy when making a big effort to close the gap, he had nothing left to give after the last, if Solness doesnt get the easy lead he likes I think he can beat Solness. Whether he can beat Jonbon is another matter.
Marine Nationale ew
Interesting.
Worth punting on the sb superboost of ballyburn & jonbon to 9/4
4.40
I expect this race to be run at a real fast pace, hold up horses may well be suited.
Unexpected Party (last year's winner) and My Mate Mozzie both fit the bill. I would imagine both have been laid out for this. The faster they go, the better for my two.
Unexpected Party ew
My Mate Mozzie ew
Chief KiefYou can get Jonbon at 7/4 alone at bet365Interesting.
Worth punting on the sb superboost of ballyburn & jonbon to 9/4
17.20
A race that the Irish dominate.
To be honest you can never be confident in this, they improve with each run, you just need to try and work out who will improve the most!
I have sided with Gameofinches,he was mightily impressive last time out, never breaking sweat.stable jockey rides. He was quite short in the market last week, but had drifted to over 6's last night. I have backed him ew,
Game of inches ew
Place pot picks:
10
1,3
2,4,11,24
1
6
3,4,7
24 lines.
Good luck all.
Post your selections on here.