Today’s best bets, by Chris Cook
One of the trickier trainer/jockey relationships in the run-up to the Cheltenham Festival will be that between Colin Tizzard and Bryan Cooper. The pair were unexpectedly brought together by the late Alan Potts in early October and it has never seemed that either man exactly rejoices in the company of the other.
Matters cannot have been improved on Sunday, when the Potts family-owned, Tizzard-trained Vision Des Flos bounced back to form with an impressive success at Exeter under Tom Scudamore, when there was no obvious reason why Cooper could not have been in the saddle. Vision Des Flos is now a contender for the Festival’s Ballymore Hurdle.
In a snatched phone call yesterday, Tizzard denied that Cooper had lost his position as the main rider of the Potts horses based in England. But that was as much as the trainer was prepared to say on the subject of jockeys and it seemed to me to fall short of a ringing endorsement.
Tizzard, I believe, would much rather have continued to use Robbie Power, who remains first jockey for the Potts horses based in Ireland. Power, after all, won four Grade Ones on Tizzard horses in April. Who wouldn’t want him?
Cooper, on the other hand, has seemed short of his best in the last 18 months and particularly since losing the Gigginstown job. Ireland is a very competitive place for any jump jockey and he has not been picking up good rides for new employers. His strike-rate this season is 8% and he has not ridden a winner for six weeks.
Any trainer would wonder if that’s the right man for his horses at the Festival. Potts’s heirs seem content to leave decisions in the hands of their trainers, so we may hear more on this subject in the coming weeks.
Back in November, when they won the Shloer together with Fox Norton, Tizzard said of Cooper: “I’m chuffed for him because he’s been under pressure, there’s no two ways about it. Alan decided he was going to ride all the horses in England and I went along with it. If I’d had my choice, it might not have been.
“But he has come out on Friday, riding Finian’s Oscar, gave him a lovely ride. And he was brilliant on this horse today. No one could have rode him any better. And I hope we can fill him up with confidence because he is a good jockey and we can put that out of our minds now.”
Well, it’s back on my mind and I don’t think I’m the only one.
Today’s jump racing has been lost to Weather, so we have Flat racing at Southwell to entertain us. Star Ascending (2.20) makes most appeal at 2-1 in the opener, in which Edward Greatrex is clearly one of the better apprentices. The chestnut has been in excellent form this winter and carries a penalty for a course and distance success last week.
Also seeking a hat-trick of wins is Serenity Now (3.25) in the staying handicap. Refitted cheekpieces seem to have helped him win his last two here and he’s only up 4lb for the latest of those. This return to further should help and he’s fairly priced at 6-1.
The weights for April’s Grand National are to be unveiled in London later today. I’ll have a tip for you in tomorrow’s paper because solving 40-runner handicaps two months ahead of time is straightforward stuff. Still, I’ll take an interest in any suggestions you have to make...
Southwell 2.20 Star Ascending (nap) 2.55 Caged Lightning 3.25 Serenity Now (nb) 4.00 Sooqaan 4.30 Essential 5.00 Archimedes
Ayr and Lingfield abandoned.
– Tips by Chris Cook.
