Supreme Novices Betting Preview Pt 2
- By A.J. Ryder on March 11, 2014 07:04 GMT
He’s only had three outings this year compared to Irving’s five but the manner in which all of those victories have come gives you an idea that this contender knows what he’s doing.
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The only real exception appears to be his last outing at Punchestown back in mid-January when he was sent off at a very short 1/4 price tag but only managed to win by under a length against a rather suspect field for a Grade 2 contest. He looks like he still has a lot of room to move forward but you have to wonder whether it comes now or a bit further into Festival Season.
Wicklow Brave seems to relishing his opportunity to play spoiler here and, though this will be his first attempt at graded action, many punters are expecting Willy Mullins to have another fantastic Cheltenham Festival. It should be noted that his 6/1 price tag likely is a bit too short when you consider that this one had been running in bumpers until two races ago. While he won by a convincing margin last time in a listed novice hurdle at Punchestown, it wasn’t exactly the most high-quality of races and it’s worth noting that he was sent off as the 6/4 second favourite.
The real wild card in the race could be Splash of Ginge who really stamped his name as a potential dark horse for this one by getting the better of Dell’Arca, who had been leading this market for quite some time over the course of the year. The Betfair Hurdle is not an easy race to win and he triumphed by nearly two lengths to deliver a famous race for punters at 33/1.
He’s hovering around a relatively similar price in this next one with a few books pricing him in at 20/1 with others going as high as 33/1. While he was well-beaten by Irving a few races back, he does represent a good each-way shout for those who think this horse has found form at just the right time. Considering that his overall record has seen him finish on the board in his last few, that may prove to be one of the smartest moves you make on Cheltenham Day 1.
