Last Week’s Top Performances
We have just had an action-packed weekend over in Ireland and seen some very smart performances through the card at Down Royal.
The ones that stood out to me though were certainly Gerri Colombe and Irish Point. Firstly, Gerri’s performance through my eyes was very impressive, he is going to absolutely relish the step up in distance over the Gold Cup trip and for me now is a serious contender to serve it right up to Galopin Des Champs. I think he is made for the Gold Cup, it’ll be interesting if he will go to the King George to take on Bravemansgame and Shishkin, but I think he will put those away comfortably.
On paper, last year’s Gold Cup was fairly weak in my opinion, it won’t be as easy for Galopin this year especially if Gerri is breathing down his neck the whole way around…
I can’t wait for it! Irish Point made a visually pleasing seasonal reappearance in the Grade 3 Bottlegreen Hurdle, he looks a stayer all over for me but I don’t think that’ll be the route that Gordon Elliot and Robcour decide to go down with Teahuppo most likely heading to the Stayers Hurdle. I think he will probably be saved for the race at Aintree but let’s wait and see.
Nevertheless, it was a really strong performance by Irish Point and I’m looking forward to seeing what more he has to offer.
Racing This Weekend – Cheltenham Betting Tips
We’ve got some cracking action lined up this weekend over the sticks and where better to start than Cheltenham. Friday and Saturday’s cards really have some quality racing on show. I strongly believe the Irish coming over with their contingent are really hard to oppose which leads me onto my first bet. It comes in the Cross Country Chase and I believe that GALVIN 2/1 is a cracking bet. He was only narrowly beaten at Cheltenham last time in the cross country, but I think with more experience under his belt now he can reverse the form with Delta Work.
It later became apparent that Davy Russel was riding with a bit of a knock that week too, nevertheless that performance was enough for me to take him this time over Delta Work who no doubt will be cherry ripe come March for this year’s renewal. Now for my second bet of the weekend. It comes in the Shloer Chase and I’m baffled that EDWARDSTONE is available at 3/1.
Despite being underwhelming in the Queen Mother he went off 2nd FAV that day with the likes of Energumene and an inform Editeur Du Gite who beat them both the time before they all met again. Edwardstone was gutsy in defeat that day nearly getting back up to deny a very well executed plan by Niall Houlihan that day. I think Alan King will have him tuned up and ready to go again this year to have another bite at the cherry at the Queen Mother Champion Chase with Energumene ruled out for the season.
I think he has more speed than Jonbon and a lot more experience at the top level, Jonbon is an excellent horse there’s no doubting that however, I think Alan Kings stable star is better on his day and will take some beating in this Sunday’s renewal of the Shloer Chase.
My 3rd bet for the weekend comes in the big one, The Paddy Power Gold Cup. I am all over THE REAL WHACKER at 7/1. This lad is as game as they come and he absolutely loves it around Cheltenham with his last 3 runs all resulting in 1st place when running at Cheltenham.
His last run was by far the most impressive beating well fancied Gold Cup contender Gerri Colombe in a thrilling finish where he kept digging in and finding just that little bit extra to hold Gerri off. There’s not a single chance any of this field could beat Gerri Colombe or get anywhere near him for that matter, back over a 2M 4F which he has under his belt round here, I think the 7/1 on offer is a cracking bet and one I have quite a lot of faith in myself.
Now last but certainly not least, my 4th and final bet of the weekend is over in Ireland at Navan in the Troytown Handicap Chase and I believe that THEDEVILSCOACHMAN(8/1) will take all the beating in this tricky handicap. On some of his best days he is a decent Grade 2 horse, putting away some very classy horses in his time such as Ashdale Bob and Riviere D’etel to name a few.
In my opinion he is a proper 3 miler, no more and no less than that. He looks like he will have his ideal ground to hand come Sunday, he seems to do his best work when in the slop. For me, he is ticking a lot of boxes for what I believe you need in a horse for this race, he has already received some support in the market too which builds optimism on his chances.
Should be bang there at the end.
My Spotlight Horses
Away from the betting, I think we have some really nice racing on show this weekend. I am extremely excited to watch Captain Teague hopefully build on his eye-catching debut over hurdles, albeit he didn’t have too much competition to put away, he did it with aplomb and looks a really nice prospect for team Ditcheat.
Another horse I am looking forward to seeing is JPR ONE who runs in the Arkle Trial on Friday. He made a very nice seasonal reappearance last month putting away a nice horse in Iceo from the Paul Nicholls yard. I think the Tizzards have a nice one here and it will be great to see him hopefully back up his Chase debut here Friday.
Thanks for taking the time to read through my thoughts and selections for this weekend’s racing!
Hopefully we can see the weekend off with profit but more importantly, some nice racing on show .
Cal.
