JCB Triumph Hurdle Betting Preview and Tips

The Irish will be queuing up to stack their euros on the Eoin Griffin-trained filly Lounaos in the JCB Triumph Hurdle on the final day of the Cheltenham Festival on Friday. However, the combination of Alan King and Robert Thornton, on a high following victories with My Way de Solzen and Voy Por Ustedes in the two two-mile chasing championship events under their belts, can enjoy further success with the spring-heeled Katchit. It's incredible how a horse can be transformed by switching from the Flat to hurdles, and there are few better cases in point than Katchit. A very modest middle-distance handicapper on the level with Mick Channon, this pocket-sized four-year-old has taken to hopping over timber like a duck to water and while he wasn't in the same parish as the likes of Degas Art and Mountain on the level, he is superior at this game. At 11/2 with Ladbrokes, he rates a cracking bet. The selection has suffered just one reverse in this sphere which was against Degas Art, funnily enough. But you could hardly say he was disgraced, beaten just a length and a half adrift in a race in which he was trying to concede 8lb to a horse that was rated about three stone higher on the Flat. Howard Johnson's charge hasn't done much wrong subsequently, winning his next two starts, but the stable aren't in particularly good form and, in any case, he'll struggle to match Katchit off level weights. Indeed, Katchit has gone on to win three times at this track since that defeat; the first of that trio of victories were on the old course and the next two were over the Triumph course and distance. The latter win came in the Wragge & Co Juvenile Novices' Hurdle on January 27 when the son of Kalanisi beat Good Bye Simon and Pauillac in what is widely regarded as the most competitive pre-Festival juvenile hurdle to have been run so far this season. In all truth, Katchit probably found the heavy going against him landing that competitive Grade 2 heat. But it was sheer determination that saw the gelding answer Chocolate Thornton's every call and repel the French raider, who was a proven mudlark. By Friday, I reckon that the going will be good, perhaps with good to soft patches, if any, and such underfoot conditions will, in my opinion, bring about further improvement from Katchit. Quite frankly, I can't see him getting beaten in this contest. Lounaos deserves the utmost respect having been beaten under none lengths when fourth against the pros in the AIG Irish Champion Hurdle won by Hardy Eustace last time out. But I feel that she's a tad short at the generally available 4/1, as while her effort in the AIG was sound, she was ultimately well held and the form of her two victories in this sphere have taken a number of knocks in the intervening period. On a line through a couple of the horses Lounaos has outpointed in her races, she is closely matched with Duty, yet the latter is more than double her price. Duty was of a similar status on the level to Katchit and, like that horse, has improved since his attentions were diverted to this game. Ex-Sir Michael Stoute-trained horses tend to fair well when going hurdling - remember who trained Tuesday's Champion Hurdle victor Sublimity on the Flat. But Duty does have a bit to find and may be playing for a place. Mountain was the best of these on the Flat in terms of the level at which he was participating, having taken part in numerous Group races, including the Epsom and Irish Derby's and the St Leger. A Classic horse no less. Jonjo O'Neill's representative had to dig deep to beat 40/1 chance Counting House, but the presence of the eventual third, Ned Ludd, gives the form a reasonably solid look. Anyway, one would expect the former Aidan O'Brien inmate to improve a good deal for that first race over timber, so he's likely to leave that form well behind. But his inexperience over hurdles is what might prove his undoing. Jumping at speed in a strongly-run race in which hustle and bustle is commonplace will provide a stern test of Mountain's mettle, and I reckon it'll be a bridge too far at this early stage of his jumping career. Perhaps the biggest danger to Katchit will prove to be Nicky Henderson's Punjabi, who landed a race at Kempton which is often a good guide to this event, the Racing Post Adonis Juvenile Novices' Hurdle. He was allowed an easy lead in that race and it may be worth treating the form with a degree of caution, but there can be no doubting the fact that this horse has one heck of an engine. Henderson has won the Triumph three times in the past - First Bout, Alone Success and Katarino being his trio of winners - and Punjabi looks a live contender. The going was soft at Kempton, but he demonstrated his appreciation of genuine good ground when successful on his debut at Ludlow previously. Rated in the mid-70s at his peak on the Flat, Punjabi has a bit to find overall, but it would be unwise to assume he can't bridge the gap. He's a big danger. When it comes to the crunch, though, Katchit looks rock-solid. He is so quick over the obstacles and is so tenacious. Furthermore, he has proved his ability to run on strongly up the Cheltenham hill at the end of a truly-run race and it's this experience, I feel, which will see him come out top. Verdict - 1pt Katchit @ 11/2 (Ladbrokes)