Well what an eventful day that was. The utter domination of Willie Mullins, combined with the shock fall of Annie Power really left me not knowing whether Id had a good or bad day!
Douvan proved himself, Un de Sceaux jumped and travelled and Faugheen now looks to be the best hurdler around by some way, and not just over two miles either.
As for my good self, well it was a pretty decent day with the Druids Nephew boosting the coffers, Un de Sceaux, Faugheen and a few bob each way on Thomas Crapper running into second did no harm either.
If some of you are baffled by Annie Powers fall, the camera angle on Racing UK showed it quite well. Cheltenham has, throughout the season, been subject to some low sun. The shadow of the final hurdle extended quite a long way back down the straight and she tried to jump the shadow. She just ended up diving into the hurdle and taking a tumble.
Anyway, onward we go! We’ve got a big day tomorrow!
13:30 Neptune Investment Management Novices’ Hurdle: This, to me, looks a very good, competitive Neptune. Nichols Canyon comes into the race having won at Leopardstown pretty impressively and Outlander looks to have a very nice turn of foot indeed. However, I’m pretty sweet on a horse of John Ferguson’s called Parlour Games. I highly doubt that Sheikh Mohammed had the Neptune in mind when sending an Oaks winner to be covered by Monsun. How and ever, he’s ended up with a very nice hurdler.
14:05 RSA Chase: Disappointing that Coneygree doesn’t run here. Don Poli is now my idea of the winner and I’d imagine he has the measure of King’s Palace. Definitely the class horse for me and I really liked the way he went about it the last day when getting the better of a horse I like by the name of Apache Stronghold.
14:40 Coral Cup: The first of the big handicap hurdles. A minefield. A dynamic handicap duo of Denis O’Regan and Tony Martin team up with an interesting horse by the name of Blackmail here on handicap debut. Ran in the Champion Bumper a few years ago and off the back of a couple of wins could be better than his mark. His each way chance is good enough for me. At a big price Goodwood Mirage could have an each way squeak.
15:20 Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase: In the antepost market I had plenty of each money on Champagne Fever each way at the bigger prices when I thought the big two were goosed after injury. I still feel the Sprinter Sacre of old will never be seen again. I’ve asked, several vets their opinion on his condition too and they all concur that the likelihood of Sprinter Sacre returning to his full ability again is low. I was very taken by Sire de Grugy’s prep. He jumped a bit big but he was well within himself and it puts him in a very good light for this. He’s the one for me.
16:00 Glenfarclas Handicap Chase: I don’t really have too strong of an opinion here. Any Currency is better than this mediocre field, but I won’t be getting involved in a serious way.
16:40 Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle: A tricky one. I’ll be having a small each way bet on The Saint James for Jonjo O’Neill. This lad has come from France and was very much minded on his UK debut at Sandown. He will no doubt improve and could be well in. AP looks elsewhere, but that doesn’t worry me too much.
17:15 Weatherbys Champion Bumper: WPM could nearly run this race on his own, he has so many in it! Look, it’s always tough to compare UK and Irish bumper form, but one I really liked the look of is Moon Racer for David Pipe, a course and distance winner.
So that’s it for Day 2 folks. Hopefully we can keep the bit of momentum going!
Slán tamaillín,
T
Turf Talk 