Cheltenham Festival Ratings Update: Novice races

Hurdles

The top performance of the Festival by a novice hurdler came from Klassical Dream (154 from 146) in an unusually open renewal of the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. Now unbeaten in three starts over hurdles since joining Willie Mullins, Klassical Dream appeals as the type to do even better over fences next term. The Olly Murphy stable companions who chased him home both look future chasers too, both Thomas Darby (147 from 142p) and Itchy Feet (146 from 142) improving despite the former finishing lame and the latter bleeding.

The field for the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle were a better-looking bunch on the whole than those in the Supreme, and the four who pulled clear of the rest are all worth viewing positively. Winner City Island (151p from 138p) hadn’t been tried so highly as some of his rivals but took the step up in grade in his stride and is very much a chaser on looks. Champ (remains on 148p) met with his first defeat of the season but confirmed himself a smart young hurdler, while Bright Forecast (146p from 136) showed improvement stepping up from two miles in staying on for third ahead of Brewin’upastorm (144 from 143), another to run well for Olly Murphy.

Mark Walsh is at it again!

He guides CITY ISLAND to victory in the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle at the #CheltenhamFestival!

📽️ @itvracing
pic.twitter.com/2cLDm590JB

— TimeformLive (@TimeformLive) 13 March 2019

The Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle is gaining a reputation for upsets, and at 50/1 Minella Indo (147 from 131p) was the longest-priced winner yet, staying on strongly to get off the mark over hurdles at the chief expense of favourite Commander of Fleet (145 from 144p) who looks a smashing chasing prospect for next season.

Another shock came in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle. No surprise that it was Willie Mullins who won it again, as he had all three previous renewals, but from his seven runners it was 50/1 shot Eglantine du Seuil (139p from 125p) who stayed on from well back to deny 66/1 stablemate Concertista (138p) by a short head, the latter, remarkably, making her debut over hurdles. Also much improved at long odds was Tintangle (137p from 124p) for Gordon Elliott in third.

The Triumph Hurdle was marred by the fatal injury sustained by hot favourite Sir Erec and was another race with a surprise outcome. Plumpton winner Pentland Hills (146p from 127p), just a fairly useful handicapper on the Flat, was much improved to give Nicky Henderson a seventh win in the top juvenile hurdle, while fellow 20/1 shot Coeur Sublime (141 from 133) resumed his progress for Gordon Elliott in finishing second.

A potential future rival to the Triumph Hurdle principals emerged from a typically competitive Juvenile Handicap Hurdle won by Sir Erec’s trainer Joseph O’Brien with Band of Outlaws (141p from 136). Completing a hat-trick off a higher BHA mark than any previous winner of the race, he’d be well worth his place in Grade 1 company at either Aintree or Punchestown.

Chases

The RSA was one of the more satisfying races of the whole Festival from a ratings point of view, with the three leading contenders all showing their form and finishing well clear of the remainder. All three are entitled to have a say in top staying chases next season, with the winner appeaing as a Gold Cup type. Produced late under a fine ride by Harry Cobden, Topofthegame (162p from 152p) came out on top to deny Santini (161p from 153p), with Delta Work (160p from 157p), beaten for the first time over fences, not far away in third after some early mistakes. It’s worth remembering that both the first two had been beaten by the mare La Bague Au Roi (absent here) in the Kauto Star at Kempton.

A thrilling finish to the RSA Chase saw Topofthegame get off the mark over fences on the biggest stage of them all. Read a full report of the Grade One contest on https://t.co/A8az1MHRCF here. ⬇️https://t.co/i7I0C0yRKb pic.twitter.com/17yZ19TL5R

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) 13 March 2019

What had looked an open and perhaps more ordinary Arkle than some in recent years, had an emphatic winner as Duc des Genievres (165p from 155p) provided Willie Mullins with his fourth winner in the last five renewals. He has emerged as the clear leader in the two-mile novice chase division and is potentially another top-notch performer at this trip for his stable.

Duc des Genievres had been beaten by A Plus Tard (161 from 146p) on his chasing debut at Naas earlier in the season, and his conqueror that day ran out an even easier winner at the Festival in the Close Brothers Novices Handicap later on the first day. Teaching his rivals a jumping lesson, A Plus Tard surged away in the straight to turn a competitive-looking handicap into a procession, and the Henry de Bromhead-trained five-year-old looks one of the most exciting chasers in the current crop of novices.

The JLT featured the latest clash between Defi du Seuil (157p from 153p) and Lostintranslation (155p from 151p), the pair fighting out the finish of their third successive meeting. As on the last occasion at Sandown, it was former Triumph Hurdle winner Defi du Seuil who came out on top with a better turn of foot in the closing stages, though both improved again in finishing clear of the rest. A step up in trip to three miles or more should suit the runner-up.

Conditions were at their softest on the opening day of the Festival, and the four-mile National Hunt Chase turned into an attritional – and controversial - contest in which only four finished, two of those doing so remotely. The form needs treating with some caution as a result, though Le Breuil (147 from 143) evidently relished a much greater test of stamina than he’d faced in most of his chases, rallying to get the better of another stout stayer Discorama (149 from 151).

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