Annie has always been RRs & SRs favourite horse so I think she will be given the chance to defend her CH crown. 7/2 is more than fair for AP at this stage if you think its 50/50 she runs. That leaves Faugheen stepping up to WH - 4-1. Just over 20-1 the double. Yorkhill is a bit of a dark horse as I haved a feeling he will be left hurdling and Wylie would happily take on RR. Limini or VVM to make sure they keep the mares. If they go with Limini then VVM for the Ryainair. Limini at 7s is tempting but holding fire for now. I like Invitation Only and have been building a Neptune position at 16s. He Wylies best novice hurdler and no obvious Neptune horse from RR. Expect Battleford and Bacardys to be AB bound as they seem like they want a trip. Up for Review in the NH Chase at 33s. Few quid ew on Crack Mome at 50s in the Supreme - think will be Wylies Supreme horse and run in France was eyecatching. Melon (20s) Senewalk (10s) and Tigi Roll (25s) all seem to have a buzz about them. People may think its madness backing them now but whichever one is the best will be even money on the day so its actually good value backing them all if you think you have the contenders. 3 different owners so you could even have a couple running. Bellshill is a monster and rumours were he was ill for alot of last year making what he did even more impressive. Hard to know where yet tho so powder dry at the moment. Karalee - keep an eye out for this one. If she stays fit she could be the one for the mares novice. Too early to get involved but if you see blue on oddschecker shout and get on! Was rated their best last year before getting injured. Not getting too involved with Vautour or Douvan yet,,,, RR and WM will do anything to win the Gold Cup this year. Have covered Thistlecrack at 10s for the GC. 7s woudnt interest me at all but I have a feeling he could be a monster this season. Altior & Min for the Arkle. Can see them going head to head again. Altior now a bit short at 3s with Min at 8s. Covered Altior at 5s.
DOUVAN also interests me in the Gold Cup market but surely this is a penalty kick opportunity for WPMs first ever Queen Mother chase honours? (Sprinter might be just too old) I'm convinced the horse could go further. What price a rare King George/Champion Chase double? The novice hurdles are always intriguing. I wonder if Nicholls will have any ammunition on that front for the first time in a while.
Going through the World Hurdle field and it's a funny old market. Faugheen would have to have a question mark for two reasons - this seasons injury problem and does he stay 3 miles well enough? Having said that you can get 4/1 in a few places and at that price you can be pretty confident you will at least be able to lay it off for a profit later in the season. Take a look at that market though. Absolutely dreadful stuff. Faugheen has a question mark over whether he'll go here and the two questions on top of that. He's 4/1 joint favourite. Thistlecrack ranges from 2/1 - 4/1 but is going to be tried over fences and will be aimed at the Gold Cup if he translates form to fences. Given who trains him i think you can be fairly sure he'll be as good over the larger obstacles and possibly better. A highly likely no runner. After that you have Annie Power (Champion Hurdle bound), Vroom Vroom Mag is next but will be targeted elsewhere. Yanworth will run in the Champion Hurdle. Shanehill will run over fences. Alpha Des Obeux likewise. Of those at the head of the market that look certain to run in this race you've only really got Jezki, probably Ballyoptic and Barters Hill. Of those, Barters Hill is good at running below expectations. Ballyoptic appears to have a lot of talent but the lack of Cheltenham form would worry. Jezki looks the best option here for ante post purposes as i exact he'll run a cracker and it does seem the likely option for connections. Looking a little further down the list is one that has run very well in this race twice in a row, winning once and finishing fourth in 2016 and that horse is Cole Harden. You can be 100% sure this is the target. So much so that i expect he'll be brought along slowly to peak on the day. We know he stays well enough. We know he battles. We can get 33/1. So those are my two ante post World Hurdle bets. Cole Harden 33/1 Jezki 16/1
Arkle - Kevin on the podcast made a great case for Identity Thief in the Arkle. Right trainer, profile and highest rated hurdler in the field. 16/1 is too big.
The Gold Cup market looks strong on face value but is a farce when you dig a little deeper. Thistlecrack - novice - no idea if he jumps. no idea if he's good enough. Vautour - probable runner - doe he stay a gruelling Gold Cup? Don Cossack - injury Cue Card - getting old Douvan - QMCC surely first option Djakadam - bridesmaid Coneygree - brittle and injury That's big question marks about the top of the market. One that stands out to me is a horse I wouldn't touch with a bargepole if trained by his last trainer. Don Poli at 33/1 is a fair price given that young Gordon is an upgrade on Willie when it comes to training a chaser. He'll probably get some head gear to settle him down as well. At 33/1 i think there's plenty of mileage in his price. He's also a highly likely runner.
Chan I think we've known for a few seasons now that Mullins' stable tour can be summarised as, 'He's a good horse, who could go up or down in trip. Might go chasing, or if not we'll stick to hurdling'...Apply comment to every horse in yard It's not much good to antepost punters but I guess that's where the punter's judgement comes in. In fairness it must be hard for him to pin down distances especially, as so many of his are top class over a variety of trips, Faugheen, Annie and Black Herucles last season proved that!
Mares Novice Hurde: Tearsofclewbay 25/1 Very smart bumper form last season and made a very pleasing hurdles debut earlier this week. Hobbs also has Copper Kay, who at 20s is also not a bad ante post punt for the same race.
I know we don't usually see the Triumph winner this early but I can't help but be impressed by CLIFFS OF DOVER 20/1. I won't be getting involved with this race so early (already backed a few as early as March this year!!) but I thought he was worth a mention on this thread.
Pretty much sums it up BOS. I'd already stuck a little bit on a couple of his. Shaneshill for the Gold Cup at a fancy price. Willie says "staying hurdler". Yorkhill in the JLT. Willie says "could make a cracking hurdler" . Despite what Willie said I'd be surprised if both of these have hurdle race entries come March.
To be fair, he doesn't need to make a decision on where they are running till the days before the racing. He's training for his owners not for the general public to have a juicy ante post bet. The people paying £300 a week fees are more important to that team than the punters having £100 on a long range bet imho.
Agreed Bob, but it's pretty piss poor journalism imho. ATR shouldn't waste space on such a dire insight. Willie has absolutely every right to keep his cards close to his chest but ATR shouldn't bother publishing it.
Identity Thief now best price 12s for the Arkle after a sparkling debut at Punchestown. Never touched a twig. On the same card, another promising Gigginstown novice chaser, Disko, hacked up over 2m4f and has been trimmed for the JLT with BetVictor top priced on 25s.
http://www.skysports.com/racing/new...n-schooled-many-of-his-big-novice-chase-hopes Altior, Buveur D'air, My Tent Or Yours & Protek De Flos all schooled over fences recently.
Last term I had just one ante-post wager prior to the meeting (I won’t repeat my rantings about how I think the addition of all these ‘new’ races has, in the main, totally ruined ante-post betting on the Festival) but I’ve already equalled this total as I’ve taken the 33/1offered by old boy William Hill re COSMEAPOLITAN in the ‘Triumph Hurdle’. I’ve been raving all summer about this one and juvenile hurdling and can’t wait until he is sent over timber later this year. Felt that quote was far too large for a horse who is rated in the 90’s on the level and is with a barn who have won the race twice and excel with this type of animal. Recommended.
Cheltenham Gold Cup AVANT TOUT - 66/1 ew So asked skybet and they have given me the above Have had a small snippet of this on the basis he is Fav for the Hennessy, which if he wins then he will be substantially shorter for the big one you expect! I know there are a lot of questions but looks a horse on the up!
33/1 a fair quote Barney and I like that as a speculative small punt- sensible reasoning and the potential to shorten significantly. As we know, Triumph is a minefield market at this stage.
But surely if he wins or goes close in the Hennessy he will turn up!! Look at the previous years winners/runners up
