COUSIN VINNY TIPPED FOR 2009 BALLYMORE PROPERTIES HURDLE AT CHELTENHAM

The outright favourite heading into the 2009 Ballymore Hurdle at next week's Cheltenham Festival is a six year-old Irish horse named Cousin Vinny. If you're taking a punt on the Ballymore Hurdle (and let's face it, everybody is) then you should strongly consider placing a significant wager on this widely-tipped jumps-specialist. Deposit between £10 and £100, make a win single bet and Blue Square will credit your account with a matched FREE BET up to £100!First and foremost, Cousin Vinny's outstanding record of 5 wins and 1 third out of 7 career races, all coming in the hurdles format. All of the victories came with PW Mullins on the back and I would be very confident about this partnership heading into the Ballymore Properties Hurdle. There are only two question marks over Cousin Vinny's and the first is his 50/50 form in graded races. Having recorded two victories in his first two grade 1 races, Cousin Vinny has since finished third and finally unseated his rider just as he was pulling clear during the Deloitte Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown. The other issue I have is that he hasn't always come up against high-end, proven performers in those grade one races and one of his toughest competitors was Hurricane Fly, whom he finished third to at Fairyhouse last November. I don't really consider either of these issues particularly discouraging and I'm going to be backing Cousin Vinny along with an outside bet or two. What seals the deal for me with Cousin Vinny is that you've always got to look for a horse who is a proven performer at the Cheltenham Festival and having won the Weatherby's Champion Bumper last year with an epic performance, you've got more than enough proof that he can get the job done.