2.30pm Cheltenham start watering track ahead of Festival
Tony Paley: The dry and increasingly mild weather has resulted in Cheltenham deciding to start watering the track from Friday morning.
Simon Claisse, the clerk of the course, gave the go-ahead after his forecast continued to suggest only 1-1.5mm of rain before the meeting starts on Tuesday.
“We’re selectively watering to maintain current conditions and will apply 3-4mm of irrigation in an exercise that should be finished by Sunday morning,” he told the Racing Post. “The forecast remains for the weather to get significantly warmer and mostly dry.”
11.15am Ricci rates Annie his best bet at the Cheltenham Festival
Tony Paley: Leading jumps owner Rich Ricci has revealed that he rates the Willie Mullins-trained Annie Power his best chance of a winner at the Cheltenham Festival after confirming that the OLBG Mares’ Hurdle would “more than likely” be her target next week.
Speaking at a Cheltenham preview evening at Leeds Town Hall on Wednesday, Ricci said: “I think she’s our best chance and I think she’s going to run in this race [Mares’ Hurdle], more than likely. We’ll keep her entered for the World Hurdle. People ask me am I tempted by the World Hurdle and yes I am, as it’s rare to have a chance in each of the championship races.
“We have a chance in the Champion Hurdle [Faugheen], we have a chance in the Champion Chase [Champagne Fever], we would have a chance with her [Annie Power] if she ran in the World Hurdle and we have a chance in the Gold Cup [Djakadam].
“Last year she was beaten by a better horse [in the World Hurdle], but she was also very keen on the day and I just think that given the way she runs, and it will be her first run of the season, it makes sense if you want Cheltenham winners to run in this race. It might be the sporting thing to do, it might not be the sporting thing to do, I don’t know.”
Ricci also owns Vroum Vroum Mag, who has won each of her three starts over fences for Mullins with the minimum of fuss. At Wednesday’s confirmation stage she remained among the entries for Tuesday’s National Hunt Chase, but is unlikely to travel to Prestbury Park.
“I’ve left her in the race [National Hunt Chase], but I think it’s more than likely she runs at Limerick on Sunday week. There’s a mares’ race there, which is a good pot,” said Ricci. “I think it’s a big ask to ask a relatively young mare to run four miles.”
Cheltenham Festival stat of the day
by Paul Jones, author of the Cheltenham Festival Betting Guide published by Weatherbys
The six-day declarations are received tomorrow for the County Hurdle, which is regarded as a pin job by many but success for Lac Fontana last season extended the winning record of first or second-season hurdlers to ten wins in the last 11 years, of which the last nine were officially rated in the 130s, so maybe it is not as tough as all that if combining those two factors? Not only were the first seven horses home last season first or second-season hurdlers, but nine of the last 11 winners were aged five or six and one of those two winners aged older was officially a novice. Take particular note of five-year-olds, who supplied the 1-2 last season, thus extending their record to nine wins in the last 16 years from approximately 20% representation.
The Cheltenham Festival Betting Guide is published on 20 February and available online via www.weatherbysshop.co.uk or by calling 01933 304776.
Next week on Talking Horses
It’s that Cheltenham Festival you may have heard of. As in previous years, we will run four individual tipping competitions during the week, one on each day of the Festival, from Tuesday to Friday. You’ll be asked to make one selection for each race at Cheltenham that day and whoever does best to imagined level stakes on each tip at SP will be that day’s winner, landing a £50 bet from William Hill.
There will also, of course, be any amount of news and views on the best week of jump racing anywhere in the world, so do join us then.
Today’s best bets, by Chris Cook
Who can read without trepidation the news that Victoria Pendleton intends to compete over fences at next year’s Cheltenham Festival, having sat on a horse for the first time last week? It shows tremendous courage and ambition and I dare say a double Olympic gold medallist is as well placed as anyone to achieve this but success on horseback is not simply a matter of will or athleticism.
Quite aside from the tricky bit about learning how to communicate with the beast, a lot of trial and error is necessary before you even get the hang of minimising injury to yourself while falling off. I remember, aged seven, being told that you hadn’t learned to ride until you’d fallen off 99 times. That’s the sort of scary baloney that people feed you when you’re a newbie. But she is going to fall off sometimes and the best we can hope for on her behalf is that a bit of bruising will be the worst of it. Aged 34, she is not going to bounce as easily as most people do when they start riding, at around half her age.
The intention is for her to progress through point to points and hunter chases to the Foxhunters Chase at the 2016 Festival. Well, good luck to her but that is a steep ascent and I hope she feels able to give up if it’s not going to be for her.
As a racing fan, you will know as well as I the enormously variable quality of riders in the Foxhunters, a race for amateur jockeys. Those people have been riding for years and years. Typically, they were born into horsey families, have been around the animals all their lives and, since the cradle, have dreamed only of riding in the Foxhunters (before settling down to take over at the merchant bank from their pa).
Those people have had every advantage and yet, as we know, once let loose over Cheltenham’s fences, a good few of them look a danger to themselves and the others. If Pendleton can do better in a year from a standing start, it will be one of the most unlikely sporting achievements of my lifetime.
Perhaps she will be looking in on Sandown today when the military riders take to the field for a couple of races, including the Grand Military Gold Cup. If so, she might get some encouragement because Paul Nicholls, who is helping to train her, is mustard in these races and has made a formidable alliance with Lance-Bombardier Jody Sole. They team up for Howlongisafoot (3.25) and, while I hardly ever bet on amateur races, this progressive chaser is overpriced at 5-4.
The professionals in the following race make more appeal, although the bookies are hardly giving away Lessons In Milan (4.00) at just 6-4. A points winner who came on masses for his hurdles debut and hosed up at Lingfield last time, he should appreciate the step up in trip and looks very fairly treated by the handicapper.
He’s from the Nicky Henderson yard that does well at this track and on this card. Things may be coming right for Henderson just now, as I notice he has run four horses in the past 12 days and all won.
In Ayr’s closer, Honourable Gent (5.20) can get the win that he has been threatening in both starts this season. He fell when leading at Musselburgh and was held off at Wetherby by Nefyn Bay, who won again the next week by seven lengths. The Wetherby third also won next time. Trained by Rose Dobbin, Honourable Gent is 5-2.
Tipping competition, day five
Our winners so far:
Monday
My Son Max 28-1
Mondo Cane 5-2
Bold Adventure 18-1
Tuesday
Catching On 11-2
Light The City 11-2
Montoya’s Son 7-2
Wednesday
Grand Vintage 8-1
City Of Angkor Wat 5-1
Gold Club 11-4
Thursday
Basford Ben 9-2
Prayer Time 7-1
Malaysian Boleh 11-2
And our leader is …
kildimo +36
… though he must be wishing he wasn’t on a run of nine losers after such a ridiculously impressive opening day. Leading the hounds: goofs +24.25, sandiuk +21.50, Shrewdette +20.50, waltersobchak +23.50, orso +20, mmmdanish +18.50, BraveCaptain +12.50.
For today’s thrilling climax, we’d like your tips, please, for these races: 4.00 Sandown, 4.35 Sandown, 4.45 Ayr.
This week’s prize is a pair of Premier tickets to Ascot for Sunday 29 March, a day of good quality jump racing midway between Cheltenham and Aintree. This year, it will be the first Prince’s Countryside Fund Raceday, featuring a range of countryside-inspired activities to keep the whole family entertained, it says here.
As ever, our champion will be the tipster who returns the best profit to notional level stakes of £1 at starting price on our nominated races, of which there will be three each day up until Friday. Non-runners count as losers. If you have not joined in so far this week, you are welcome to do so today, but you will start on -12.
In the event of a tie at the end of the week, the winner will be the tipster who, from among those tied on the highest score, posted their tips earliest on the final day (TODAY).
For terms and conditions click here.
Good luck!
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