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Undefeated since moving to Britain, he has captured a Class 1 listed race at Newbury and then ventured on to take the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Trial at Ascot (winning by an impressive seven lengths) and then captured a Grade 1 with his victory in the Tolworth Hurdle at Sandown just after New Years Day.
It wasn’t so much the victory itself at Sandown, but the manner of the victory, that really proved his credentials as a viable Supreme Novices candidate. He won by a smashing 14 lengths, which in a Grade 1, is extremely comfortable even if the horse was sent off at a 4/9 margin.
The big opening of the 2015 Cheltenham Festival will see one of the most fascinating iterations of the Supreme Novices for the past few years. While there is no real stand-out star in this race in 2015, that’s actually a pretty good thing as the extremely over bet favourite meme can be tiresome after a while and it can really dampen the enthusiasm in the crowd when a major favourite gets beaten - as they often tend to - in a race of this magnitude with horses that are still developing in their careers racing over hurdles.
It’s worth taking a second look at Global Power who has clearly been pointed towards this one and looks set to make the breakthrough after a pair of second place finishes recently.
The 3:00 comes to us from Sandown and we’ve got the Betfred Mobile Heroes Handicap Hurdle drawing in a tricky group of contenders that is led by Harry Fry’s selection Polamco who is well weighted for this one and will be looking for his third score on the bounce. This is the only graded contest on the card and should be fascinating but some might be put off by his 7...
One has to admit that it is a pretty significant step up in grade though and there are several pretty accomplished contenders in the mix here. One of the best ones to keep your eye on is Oscar Sunset who is also emerging off a victory and comes into the race as the second choice in a dynamic field of competitors.
He comes into the race having won a tricky contest at Taunton by a solid margin when sent off as the 11/4 favourite. He had been sent off as the punters choice in his two prior races this season but was only able to muster up a second place finish in...
We’ve got some very interesting races set to unfold at Sandown and Ffos Las tomorrow with what many expect to be a £200,000 Scoop6 pot up for grabs. With some relatively small fields and no gigantic handicap puzzles to solve, this one could be won by more than a few punters so anybody doing their homework on the six races stands a pretty good chance of pulling something off.
Getting closer to the jump off, we’re going to be starting at 1:50 at Sandown in a 2m handicap chase featuring the likes of French Opera coming in as the high weight. Nicky Henderson’s charge can only muster up fourth favourite...
The competitive portion of the field is rounded out by the likes of Somersby and Twinlight. Somersby in particular looks to be an enticing wager as he has been finishing there-or-thereabouts pretty frequently and looks like he could be absolutely set for the breakthrough here. You’ll find him priced anywhere from 4/1 to 9/2 and his price could drift higher a bit if Sprinter Sacre gets hit hard by the punters during the build-up to the race. A good pre-race appearance could work in his favour.
We are just past the declaration stage for this weekend’s National Hunt racing action on Saturday and there is a lot to like about the graded contests that are set to unfold at both Ascot and Haydock Park.
It goes without saying that the second seasonal attempt of Sprinter Sacre is the big story heading into the Saturday and the sole Grade 1 contest of the day should prove to be no disappointment. The Sodexho Clearing House Stakes is a really interesting race that boasts some solid prices right now with Sprinter Sacre not exactly considered the favourite...
The third race is the 2:25 from Warwick with a 3m2f contest that serves as a prep for the Pertemps Final. A number of talented contenders are in the mix here and we have some seriously solid records on the line. Closing Ceremony enters the race looking for his third score on the bounce while Phoenix Returns hasn’t finished outside off the board in his last five races. In that sequence is a pair of victories - one of which coming in a race very similar to this one at Carlisle - and you can bank on that being a testament to his ability to get the job done in this contest.
We’ve got a very winnable Scoop6 jackpot coming together this Saturday with races from Kempton, Wetherby and Warwick all set to unfold in one of the most tricky tests for punters on the entire planet. While this week’s iteration of the Scoop6 is nothing like some of the sequences we have seen recently - with up to 25 or 30 runners in the mix in a given race - it’s still going to require some careful analysis and handicapping to be able to figure out how things will shape up.
It’s also worth noting the presence of Shaneshill, who is much more widely-raced than many others here with his second season under rules. He came second to Silver Concorde in the bumper at the festival last year and then was able to beat him out in the return fixture at Punchestown with an amateur rider in the irons.
He then went on toe capture a maiden hurdle first-out this season with Ruby up and he then followed up with a disappointing second place finish in a Grade 2 at Navan. You can back him anywhere from a 10/1 price tag all the way up to a 16/1...
