Well racing took place if not somewhat delayed. We had a great start to the day with Champagne Fever and a good finish with Ohio Gold e/w, hope you got the 20/1 on offer. In between there were 2 non-events with Simonsig and Quevega guaranteed winners, so we looked for value and failed although Overturn decided to throw in a shocker and that may have cost us second. Our Mick would have gone closer only for a few mistakes, but obliged each way.
All hats off to Hurricane Fly and Quevega though ... true champions and a great sight to behold. Along with Big Bucks this is truly the age of some great hurdlers and this is what makes the big festivals different to a nice Sandown card on a saturday. There's real emotion when these horses win. 365 long days of preparation all put on the line in five minutes or so of grit, power and determination.
Onto day 2, where we start with 3 novice races and end with 3 lotteries. This is undoubtedly the toughest day of the week.
NH Chase
Back In Focus is the selection here. A horse I've liked since his Haydock Graded novice win, when with Howard Johnson, he is campaigned selectively due to his liking for soft ground. He's a thorough stayer who will relish this trip. Godmsejudge is probably next best. An improving type, he ran with great merit in Warwick's Classic Chase before following up with a nice win over 3m 2f at the same track.
Neptune Novices
Reputations must be treated with a little wariness sometimes and at this festival there's no bigger reputation than the one that comes with Pont Alexandre. Willie Mullins says he's could end up being the best he's ever trained and all of Ireland agree with him. It would be a major upset if he were to be beat.
RSA Chase
This looks a very good renewal of the RSA and the race is sure to produce many future winners, however the trio of Unioniste, Boston Bob and Lord WIndermere are of most interest. Given the former was reported not fully fit at Newbury we'll side with Unioniste. If it was a slog Boston Bob would have been the selection but the ground was not too bad yesterday. Lord Windermere would be the each way selection.
Queen Mother Chase
This is just a question of not who wins, but by how far Sprinter Sacre wins. Not a betting contest, if you can't resist a punt then a small place or each way bet on former champion Sizing Europe is probably safest.
Coral Cup
In many books, Pendra is the best handicapped horse of the week and he is a worthy favourite and must go close. Fiveforthree was a very good horse a couple of years ago and barring injuries down the years would probably be running in the World Hurdle here instead so makes for a good each way. Of the remainder, Meister Eckhart is overpriced at 16/1 given that he finished 2nd first time out in the National Spirit last time and was 5th in the 2012 Albert Bartlett. He has clearly took time bringing him back for a tilt at this.
We finish day 2 with a couple of the trickiest affairs all week.
Fred Winter
First up is the Fred Winter. A newish race here, the trends point to a horse with experience but not necessarily winning. A horse fitting the bill is Megalypos. The Simon Munir/Nicky Henderson combo won the race last year and this lad has been running in some good contests in defeat. Of the each ways Fatcatinthehat and Ptit Zig look good value.
Bumper
The Bumper is one of the trickiest races of the week with so many unexposed youngsters on show. Sgt Reckless has reportedly been 'working all over' good flat horses at Mick Channon's yard and a minor coup here is that top flat jockey Richard Hughes rides. Blackmail comes here with a chance despite 2 defeats and the booking of Barry Geraghty is not unnoticed. We think the best value in the race could be Milo Man. His only run to date produced a 25l drubbing of a fairly fancied David Pipe horse and an each way chance is taken at around 18/1
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