Ratings Update: Bold Frodon produces career-best effort

Though it’s a two-day event at Cheltenham, the International Meeting doesn’t always grab the attention as you might expect. This may be due to the general lack of star appeal in the International Hurdle itself, or perhaps the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup isn’t dissimilar enough from the previous month’s BetVictor Gold Cup, for all that one is run on the Old Course and one on the New Course.

Despite this, the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup saw Frodon (up 4 lb to 167) produce the performance of the weekend, becoming only the second dual winner in the race's long history. Though it was described as a ‘Gold Cup-level’ performance by Luke Harvey on ITV, a more realistic target would probably be the Ryanair Chase over a similar trip to Saturday’s contest, for which Frodon is a 12/1 chance.

What a marvellous performance by top-weight Frodon who wins his second Caspian Caviar Gold Cup Handicap Chase in three years.

Bryony Frost truly is becoming the scarlet of National Hunt racing 🙌💃 pic.twitter.com/Yo4aTCcWNd

— CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces) December 15, 2018

Though a competitive affair on paper, the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup was less so in practice, with plenty failing to give their running, forced into jumping errors by the tactics employed on the winner. Frodon's performance was a joy to behold, taking the race by the scruff of the neck from the off and never letting it go, employing a style that has also paid dividends in this race in recent years for both Village Vic and Niceonefrankie.

Runner-up Cepage (up 5 lb to 145x) proved better than ever after eight months off, benefitting from being ridden closer to the pace than usual. He went through the race as if well ahead of his mark, denied only by a really game winner, likely to have gone closer still without a mistake two out (jumped well otherwise). The pair were miles clear of Guitar Pete (138), who again found it hard to come from off the pace given how the race unfolded, and Baron Alco (153), who wasn’t able to boss the race as he had when beating Frodon into second in the BetVictor Gold Cup last time; he could still be of interest in the Grade 3 handicap at the track on New Year's day.

Brain Power, returned to smaller obstacles, ran away with the International Hurdle, and is now 16/1 for the Champion Hurdle.

Brain Power storms the Unibet International Hurdle for Nico de Boinville and Nicky Henderson ⚡️

Spare a thought for the likely retirement of The New One who pulled up before the last 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/MCIOqPRMOW

— CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces) December 15, 2018

With Supreme winner Summerville Boy flopping again and three-time victor The New One a light of former days, this didn't take quite the winning that it might have done, but the placed horses Silver Streak (149) and Western Ryder (145) both came into the race off the back of a good run in the Greatwood, and that Brain Power could beat them as comprehensively as he did suggests the winner is as good as he was when last seen over hurdles. His performance suggested a better showing than he managed when well fancied for the 2017 Champion Hurdle could be on the cards come March, though he has quite a gap to bridge to challenge his stable companion Buveur d'Air.

The New One showed as much zest as ever over the first couple of flights, but despite the application of a first-time visor, he was quickly done with and was pulled up before the last. He's been a credit to connections.

The third graded race on Saturday was the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle, in which Rockpoint (up 5 lb to 127) made most of the running. Recent winners of this race have some notable achievements to their name subsequently, and while Rockpoint looks a bit below their level at this stage, he has improved for the step up in trip and is clearly on an upward curve. It was no surprise to see him shorten into 25/1 for the main event in March; that looks a fair price.

The @colintizzard-trained Rockpoint fends off all challengers to get off the mark at the eleventh time of asking in the Grade Two Novices' Hurdle @CheltenhamRaces.👏 #TheInternational pic.twitter.com/DTHp5r3Rey

— Racing UK (@racing_uk) December 15, 2018

Runner-up Lisnagar Oscar (up 9 lb to 125p) was upped markedly in trip, but built on his hurdling debut promise, clearly a useful stayer in the making. He’s open to further improvement, as is the eventual fifth Doux Pretender (down 5 lb to 129), who was possibly stretched by the increased emphasis on stamina, though he wasn’t well positioned when the tempo lifted, either.

There was probably plenty of substance to the win of Drovers Lane, who was very well-ridden and put his experience to good use in the novices’ chase, beating Le Breuil and Jenkins despite giving weight away all round. The winner may lack the class of some of those ahead of him in the betting for the JLT Novices’ Chase, but there are worse 40/1 ante-post bets lying around considering the strong rollcall of winners of Saturday’s race.

Nelson River (127 from 114p) showed deep reserves of stamina to beat Fanfan du Seuil (up 2 lb to 129p) in the Triumph Hurdle Trial, but he’s still a bigger price than the runner-up for the main event itself; the pair are 40/1 and 33/1, respectively. The winner is still relatively lightly raced all round, so remains with potential, though improvement likely depends on there being sufficient emphasis on stamina. Over at Doncaster, Quel Destin (unchanged on 136) was forced to work hard to land the odds in the Summit Juvenile Hurdle after Elysees (127 from 130p) was wisely ridden to try and run the finish out of him, almost managing it. The pair are now 20/1 and 33/1 for the Triumph Hurdle, respectively.

Other notable performances at the International Meeting included those of Elixir de Nutz (remains on 130), who kicked off Friday’s card with an all-the-way win, though it’s worth noting that he had an easy lead, and whether the form is worth the sum of its parts is perhaps debatable.

Lil Rockerfeller’s early departure in the following race meant that The Worlds End (up 6 lb to 152p) had a straightforward chance, and he took it in fine style under a change of tactics, with Noel Fehily replacing the sidelined Adrian Heskin. The winner clearly has the potential to take high rank among the staying novices this season and is now a 16/1 chance for the RSA Novices’ Chase.

Friday’s feature race was the Grade 3 staying handicap, which saw the very willing Cogry (up 2 lb to 142x) get the better of the less resilient Singlefarmpayment (up 1 lb to 149), with Rolling Dylan (up 5 lb to 143) a neck back in third.

WHAT A RACE!! 😮👏

A truly absorbing finish as Cogry, who lead from pillar to post, heads Singlefarmpayment to win the CF Roberts 25 Years Of Sponsorship Handicap Chase for Sam and Nigel Twiston Davies 👌 pic.twitter.com/RQnU3JPNk0

— CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces) December 14, 2018

Cogry produced as good a round of jumping as he ever has (one noted mistake in three races here this season, and clearly much better than of old in that department). He won't go up much for this and is likely to continue to give a good account.

Despite his defeat, Singlefarmpayment is the 14/1 favourite for the big three-mile handicap at the Festival. He proved at least as good as ever, aided by a superb ride, though once again he managed to wriggle out of winning, consenting to go alongside but no further on the run-in.

The progressive Aaron Lad (up 10 lb to 137) was a mover in the Pertemps Final market after staying on best to beat Keeper Hill (up 3 lb to 139) later in the day; the pair are now 16/1 and 25/1, respectively. The winner is already qualified for the Final here and may well go up enough for this win to ensure that he gets a run, clearly a contender on this showing.

Fact Of The Matter (up 6 lb to 136) produced a career-best to beat My Hometown (127 from 132+) in the Cross Country race, with Josies Orders (147 from 145+) back in third. The last-named, who conceded plenty of weight to the two that beat him, is still the shortest in the ante-post for the corresponding race at the Festival, a general 10/1 chance behind last season’s winner and Grand National hero Tiger Roll.

At Navan on Sunday, Easy Game (up 5 lb to 135) beat stablemate Getareason (up 9 lb to 133) in the Navan Novice Hurdle, a race with a long history of producing Grade 1 performers. This year’s contest didn’t look as strong as some recent renewals, however, and the winner is still a general 20/1 chance for the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle. The market for that race is currently topped by Champ and Battleoverdoyen (138P), who stormed clear in the opening maiden hurdle on the card. He arrived with a big reputation and looked out of the top drawer on hurdling debut, effortlessly drawing clear of the fairly useful runner-up Momus (124) in the straight; an all-round excellent prospect, Battleoverdoyen is open to significant improvement and looks a novice hurdler to follow this season. As well as being prominent in the Ballymore market, he’s now disputing second-favouritism in the Supreme.

Also on the card, the bright prospect He’s No Molly (129p) impressed when making a winning debut over fences, beating Sir Carno (down 3 lb to 127) quite comfortably, while Envoi Allen (up 1 lb to 107p) followed in the footsteps of his stablemates Samcro and Death Duty, both subsequent Grade 1 winners, when winning the listed bumper. He’s joint favourite with stablemate Malone Road for the Champion Bumper as a result.