Hi all,
It’s the start of the Cheltenham Festival. I was going to try to avoid having to many selections at the festival, but I couldn’t really find anything soild at any of the other meetings. So, today’s two selections both come from Cheltenham.
Cheltenham
3:30 – Buveur D’Air – 11/4 @ William Hill & Coral – Giving 7lb to Apple’s Jade is going to be a tough ask for double Champion Hurdle winner Buveur D’Air. Laurina’s form isn’t as good as the other two but she could be capable of a lot better. Here trainer certainly thinks she is. At the prices I am happy to go with Buveur D’Air to make it the three on the bounce in the race, especially as the ground looks perfect. He’s also set to go off at a value price.
5:30 – Ok Corral – 4/1 @ William Hill & Betway – If there is a top-class chaser in the field it’s going to be the selection.Like Buveur D’Air, he’s owned by JP McManus & trained by Nicky Henderson. The 9-year-old is very lightly raced for his age, just the nine starts. He made it 2 from 2 over fences when winning a 3m listed chase at Warwick 59-days ago.
I think he could win an RSA Novices’ Chase, but connections resisted going for that shorter race and kept to their plan to go for this marathon trip. He ran well when runner-up in last years Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle on soft ground so more rain won’t be an issue. Like all the field, stamina must be proven but if he stays, he wins although he’s price is plenty skinny enough.
Cheers
John