The glitz, glamour and excitement of the Cheltenham Festival may be a thing of the past, but we are back at Prestbury Park this week for the two-day April Meeting.
We begin with a seven-race card, one which kicks off with a fine Grade 2 event over fences.
1.30 (Silver Trophy Handicap Chase – Grade 2) – GEMIRANDE
The opening race is the extended two-and-a-half-mile Silver Trophy, a limited handicap chase at Grade 2 level.
The likely favourite is Dan Skelton’s Heltenham who really is improving. He has won three races very well since Christmas and while he’s gone up 25lbs in that time, it seems he still has more to offer.
We couldn’t put you off backing him, but at slightly better odds there is a lot to like about Venetia Williams’ Gemirande and he gets the nod from us.
Never out of the first two in five runs this season, this gelding is just seven and he too has more room for improvement. After finishing second in the Greatwood Gold Cup at Newbury last month he’s gone up another 3lbs in the weights, but he can cope with that and always give his running.
2.05 (Handicap Hurdle – Class 2) – MASTER CHEWY
There will be plenty of attention going the way of Nicky Henderson’s Bold Endeavour and the Oliver Greenall/Josh Guerriero runner Homme Public as they have nice profiles and are bigger prices.
The solid one for us however is Master Chewy. His performance when 8th in the Grade 1 Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle here at the festival was more than respectable. It will, if nothing else, have got him to absolute peak fitness and he is very likely to appreciate the quicker ground offered this week.
2.40 (Handicap Chase – Class 3) – CHECKITOUT
Staged over three and half miles, this handicap chase really will take some getting even if the ground is dry enough.
The New Course is more about stamina than speed as we know, and here the field is tasked with taking on no fewer than 24 fences.
The one we think can cope best with it all is Nigel Twiston-Davies’ Checkitout, ridden of course by Sam Twiston-Davies.
While many horses are trained to peak in the DRF, the Cheltenham Festival or Aintree, some don’t quite make it but do peak later and he could well be one. He looks ready to win now and is the call ahead of Wake Up Early, Tip Top Cat and Max Dynamo
3.15 (Novices’ Hurdle – Class 2) – RED DIRT ROAD
Much of the attention, and the money, will go the way of The Carpenter in this race and we can see why. As a runner trained by red-hot Nicky Henderson who has won his last two races, he seems a very solid selection.
A six-year-old with arguably better form, who has run only three times over hurdles, the last 40 days ago and who has no doubt improved plenty in the interim is Jonjo O’Neill’s Red Dirt Road.
His latest win was very easy indeed and this race is a natural step for him. Theatre Man looks solid for those entering the Placepot, while Chasing Fire can recover and regain the thread if putting it all together so rates as a fine contender too.
3.50 (Handicap Chase – Class 2) – PERCUSSION
We’re on what is essentially the Gold Cup course here as these chasers go over 3 miles, 2½ furlongs. Twelve of them take on 22 fences, with stamina and just a little speed being important.
The one for money is Captain Cattistock. The ten-year-old remains in fine form, he likes the New Course and he is trained by Fergal O’Brien who as regular readers know does very well here at all meetings away from the festival.
A better price, and with a better chance for our money, is Laura Morgan’s Percussion. This one is an eight-year-old who has better days ahead of him.
Despite this, his level of form (at the weights) is about the best on offer for us. What is even more noteworthy is that his best performance all round was his third to Ashtown Lad in the Becher Chase in December, so now that he has to use that stamina again, we can see him reach a new career high.
4.25 (Handicap Hurdle – Class 2) – BROADWAY BOY
What we like to see at this late stage of the season is a horse getting faster/betting right now. It’s not the case at the highest level, but in a race such as this it remains possible and it happens to be the case with Broadway Boy.
This is another runner for the Twiston-Davies team who may just have a very good day. Their Broadway Boy has been busy enough this season, running six times, but it must be pointed out that those half-dozen runs are all he’s had in his whole career and he is only five years old.
No doubt then there is a lot more to come from him, he won his second race three weeks ago and he has all the attributes needed to do well here.
Santos Blue is on a four-timer for the Skeltons and On The Blind Side can’t be discounted having suddenly rediscovered his form for a stable in very fine form (Nicky Henderson).
5.00 (Handicap Hurdle – Class 3) – BY YOUR SIDE
The final race on the card is one for conditional jockeys and amateur riders only. Claiming 5lbs in the race is Ben Bromley who has ridden a winner and two seconds in his last three starts and Gordon Elliott has called on him to ride By Your Side.
Only a four-year-old, By Your Side is coming along nicely albeit at a lower level than many in the stable, in fact he comes to Cheltenham on the back of a maiden hurdle win against 22 rivals at Naas is March.
He looks fair value in the circumstances, with both Mayhem Mya and Ballygeary not far behind in the reckoning.
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