Hot To Trot: Cheltenham Festival special

Tom George

With a 75% Run To Form (RTF) percentage at the moment, Tom George clearly has his horses in good form. Recent wins for Song Saa and Boagrius (career-best) have backed up earlier wins for the likes of Clondaw Castle, who was one of four winners in the space of seven runners for the Slad yard in late February.

The novice Clondaw Castle presumably had one of the handicaps as his main target several weeks ago, but such has been the rate of his progression over fences that he now has his sights set firmly on what looks a less-than-stellar Arkle on Tuesday after being supplemented. He was value for at least another five or six lengths when winning a novice handicap at Huntingdon and is not one to take lightly.

Sights have been set slightly lower for Bun Doran, but he is part of a strong-looking team of handicappers for George.  A quickly-run Grand Annual looks perfect for a horse who ran well off this mark last time and has plenty of rock-solid Cheltenham form to his name. He looks more straightforward than Singlefarmpayment, who found a way to lose after hitting the front here last time, but the last-named is likely to hit the frame once more in Tuesday’s Ultima Handicap (fifth last year). If he stays the longer trip, Activial could also run well in the same race.

Despite finishing third last year, God’s Own heads to the Champion Chase with what appears to be just an outside chance, but the likes of The Worlds End, Black Op and Fanfan du Seuil all head to their graded assignments with arguably stronger claims, especially The Worlds End who should be much more at home back at Cheltenham having looked all at sea when finding things happening too quickly at Kempton over Christmas.

Joseph O’Brien

Unlike Tom George, Joseph O’Brien is officially still seeking his first Cheltenham Festival winner, though it’s common knowledge that he did everything with Ivanovich Gorbatov when that horse won the 2016 Triumph Hurdle, bar have his name on the racecard (was yet to be approved for a license).

Ivanovich Gorbatov is one of three J.P. McManus-owned horses that are high-profile absentees from the meeting, due to concerns about how the English handicapper has adjusted their marks. There are clearly issues with the process, but unfortunately the connections of Presenting Percy set their compatriots back some way when vociferously complaining about his mark in the 2017 Pertemps, which the horse (who is the current favourite for the Gold Cup) duly won on the bridle by three and a three quarter lengths.

While Ivanovich Gorbatov would have been interesting in one of the handicaps, he’s not as interesting as Sir Erec who heads the betting for Friday’s Triumph. A smart performer on the Flat (third only to Stradivarius and Thomas Hobson in the 2018 Long Distance Cup), he has made a smooth transition to hurdling, and was very impressive when winning the Spring Hurdle at Leopardstown last time. Fakir d’Oudairies, who was so impressive when beating stablemate Fine Brunello in the Finesse here in January, has leading claims if diverted to the Supreme, while Band of Outlaws and Gardens of Babylon are other notable juveniles for the yard.

Other interesting runners include Us And Them – especially if running in a handicap – Mortal, Early Doors, Tower Bridge and Thermistocles. The last-named caught the eye with a big mid-race move when qualifying for the Pertemps Final at Leopardstown last time and is fancied to reverse the form with the two that finished ahead of him that day.

Jessica Harrington

Though her team may not include the likes of Sizing John and Our Duke, who flew the flag for the yard with great credit several years ago, Jessica Harrington still has several horses of interest, and her horses have been good form ahead of the meeting.

Her team is spearheaded by Supasundae. Although he was second to Penhill in last season’s Stayers’ Hurdle, he could yet bid to take on Apple’s Jade, Laurina, Buveur d’Air et al in Tuesday’s Champion Hurdle instead. After all, his two Grade 1 wins last term came over two miles, and, given the weather forecast and instructions for the meeting to start on slower ground than is sometimes the case, it might be that the feature race on Tuesday suits the horse more than the (apparently weaker) Stayers’.

Walk To Freedom finished second in the aforementioned Pertemps qualifier and remains of interest despite having a more exposed profile than some of his well-touted rivals, while Not Many Left was well-placed to win such an event at Huntingdon last time and is very unexposed; he’s only 4 lb higher here and that could be an oversight.

Magic of Light was let down by her jumping under a slightly more reserved ride in the Bobbyjo Chase last time, but looks tailor-made for the Ultima, while Whisperinthebreeze looks the sort who could excel for the longer trip of the National Hunt Chase, having got his head in front at the sixth time of asking over fences last time.

Others of note include Mares’ Novices’ entry Emily Moon, who improved a chunk when winning at Naas last time, the potentially well-treated Fred Winter contender Got Trumped, and Press Conference, who took the notable scalp of Annamix when last seen; he’s due to step up in trip for the Albert Bartlett.