The British Horseracing Authority will hope to reschedule the Cleeve Hurdle, the Cotswold Chase and possibly at least one more of the four Grade Two events scheduled at Cheltenham on Saturday if the card falls victim to the weather following an inspection on Friday afternoon.
Any rescheduled races will not be staged at Cheltenham, however, and it seems increasingly likely that for the first time in a quarter of a century, the opening day of the Festival in March will be the first meeting at the track in the calendar year.
Officials will walk the course at 2pm on Friday for what was initially announced as a precautionary inspection on Thursday morning, but became a more immediate threat to Saturday’s meeting due to a deteriorating weather forecast.
“We’re just about raceable at the moment if we took a few fences out,” Simon Claisse, Cheltenham’s director of racing, said, “but the forecast upon which we made the judgment call this morning to hold a precautionary inspection has subsequently got worse.
“My levels of optimism are declining, but there’s always hope. We need less rain to fall than is forecast, what happens through the night will be key as to where we end up.”
Santini, the runner-up in last year’s Gold Cup, has been declared to take on Bristol De Mai and Native River in the Cotswold Chase if the meeting goes ahead, while Paisley Park, the 2019 Stayers’ Hurdle winner, is odds-on to win the Cleeve Hurdle for the third year running.
“It would be very disappointing [to lose the meeting],” Emma Lavelle, Paisley Park’s trainer, said “because as Trials Day should, it sits in a perfect position in the runup to the Festival. But at the end of the day, it’s out of our control. We can just do plenty of work with him, almost train him as if he’d run and give him a couple of easier days and then pick him up for the Festival.
“We’d absolutely see what was happening [with a rescheduled race] and I’m assuming that if it’s rearranged, it will be pretty shortly. If we can go racing with him, we will.”
On a gruelling afternoon at Gowran Park, Gordon Elliott secured a one-two in one of the Irish season’s most valuable handicaps as Coko Beach beat Run Wild Fred in the Goffs Thyestes Chase.
Just eight of the 18 starters completed the three miles and a furlong on heavy ground and Coko Beach, in blinkers for the first time, was always staying on more strongly than his pursuers after hitting the front at the top of the straight.
Coko Beach was cut to a top price of 20-1 with Hills for the National Hunt Chase, while Sam’s Profile, who stayed on grimly to take the Grade Two Galmoy Hurdle earlier in the afternoon, is around 20-1 (from 66-1) for the Stayers’ Hurdle.
Friday’s best bets
Cheltenham’s big meeting on Saturday may be in the balance but the first afternoon of Doncaster’s two-day meeting offers plenty to keep punters occupied as we all await news of the inspection at 2pm.
Flinteur Sacre is the name that leaps off the screen, and Sprinter Sacre’s full brother looks likely to go off at odds-on for the third time in four races as he looks for his first win over timber in the novice hurdle at 3.10.
Nicky Henderson’s six-year-old still has just one win to his name, however, having finished only fourth when sent off at 2-5 for his hurdling debut at Newbury. He should find plenty of improvement for that experience and was not given a hard time when beaten, but still looks a false price given that he faces an interesting rival in Jack Sharp (3.10).
Alastair Ralph’s runner was a big price on debut over this course and distance in December but outran his odds to finish a close third in a decent time under a hands-and-heels ride. The winner of that race ran well under a penalty next time and at around 5-2, Jack Sharp looks like the way to go.
Lingfield 12.15 Bint Dandy 12.45 Heptathlete 1.20 Colorando 1.50 Hundon 2.25 Super Julius 2.55 Athmad 3.30 Tamborrada 4.05 Dream Point
Doncaster 1.00 Discko Des Plages 1.32 The Edgar Wallace 2.05 Ibleo 2.37 Talking About You 3.10 Jack Sharp (nap) 3.45 Tortuga Bay (nb) 4.17 J'Ai Froid
Wolverhampton 4.45 Save The Spirit 5.15 New Look 5.45 Fleur Irlandaise 6.15 Colour Of Light 6.45 Study The Stars 7.15 The Bay Warrior 7.45 Contingency Fee 8.15 Valentine Blues
Tortuga Bay (3.45) returns to the smaller obstacles after a try over fences last time and looks big at around 7-1 for the handicap hurdle later on the card, while Discko Des Plages (1.00) should also go well at 6-1 in the opener. Super Julius (2.25) is a solid option at Lingfield while New Look (5.15) ran well at Kempton last time and catches the eye at around 9-1 at Wolverhampton.
