2023 Sunday Cheltenham November Meeting Tips – DS
2023 Sunday Cheltenham November Meeting Preview
Our Cheltenham woes continued on Saturday. Outside The Door wasn’t disgraced but he missed out on a place in 6th. It was a speculative punt on Black Gerry and he was clearly lacking fitness. Polish didn’t run terribly but he was a length off a place in 7th. We are now 0/6 for the meeting but we have one more shot at redemption. Check out Dave Stevos’ 2023 Sunday Cheltenham November Meeting tips below.
1.45 – Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase (Class 3)
Just the seven have been declared for this 20f novices’ handicap. Ginny’s Destiny is the fav for Nicholls and Cobden. He has had a run, he will appreciate the return to softer ground and on his Warwick Grade 2 second, his mark of 133 looks workable. However, odds of 7/2 about a horse that has been beat a combined distance of 94L on his last two starts look a shade skinny.
Of the three Irish raiders, Railway Hurricane will probably be best suited by the soft conditions. Mr Saxobeat and Elle Perfecta have both done their winning on ground with good in the description. Alan King runs Es Perfecto and he’s another one whose best form is on a sounder surface.
Wonderwall is the outsider of the field at 9/1. He is a horse that showed lots of potential over hurdles two seasons ago. However, a fall at Huntingdon in Feb 2022 stunted his progress. He will like the ground but he has had a wind op since disappointing in the Cesarewitch and with just seven runners, the percentage call is to leave him alone. No bet.
2023 Sunday Cheltenham November Meeting Tip: No Bet
2.20 – Jewson Handicap Chase (Premier)
The one I like in this 13 runner handicap chase is the David Bridgwater trained Dom Of Mary. By Saddler Maker, this 7yo will relish the soft ground at Cheltenham. He won on heavy off 115 at Stratford on his penultimate start of last season and he has form figures of 12412 under rules on soft/heavy ground.
Caoilin Quinn was on board for that win and he was also in the plate for his seasonal return at Plumpton (25f gd/sft). That was a very pleasing comeback on ground plenty lively for him. He stayed on nicely for fourth, finishing 4L behind the winner Blade Runner.
That run should have left him spot on fitness wise and on the evidence of how he finished off his race, the step up to 27f ought to suit him well. He’ll be carrying less than 10 stone thanks to Quinn’s 5lbs claim and that has to rate as a big advantage on soft ground over this distance. At odds of 22/1, back Dom Of Mary e/w.
2023 Sunday Cheltenham November Meeting Tip: Dom Of Mary e/w @ 22/1 (4 places) NAP
2.55 – Shloer Chase (Grade 2)
A race short on quantity but high on quality. Just four run but they are all rated 160+ and you couldn’t discount any of them. Jonbon is favoured by the oddsmakers to pick up where he left off last season. Nicky Henderson’s star chaser’s sole defeat last term came in the Arkle behind El Fabiolo. The only other horse to beat him in twelve rules starts was Constitution Hill so his claims are obvious.
Edwardstone is actually rated a pound higher than Jonbon. At his best, he’s a top notch two mile chaser but he’s won just one of his last four. Better ground might be preferable for him and he is best watched after his flop at the Festival last year.
Nube Negra won a desperate renewal of this race last season. He also won it the year before, beating Politologue. However, it was good ground for both of those wins and while he has won on soft, that came in 2020 and he was well beaten and pulled up in two soft ground runs last season.
Outsider
That leaves Editeur Du Gite. He’s the outsider of the field after his underwhelming return at Warwick (17f gd/sft) last week. His form tailed off at the backend of last season but he did take the scalps of both Edwardstone and Nube Negra earlier on in his campaign.
Those wins here and at Kempton came on soft ground. He’s a front runner and in this small field, Niall Houlihan might be able to dictate. However, he’s been beaten a combined distance of nearly 100L on his last three starts and you’d like to see some sort of a spark before betting him. Jonbon looks the most likely winner but that is reflected in his odds. No Bet.
2023 Sunday Cheltenham November Meeting Tip: No bet
3.30 – Greatwood Handicap Hurdle (Premier)
We have a Paul Byrne plunge horse in this year’s Greatwood. Onlyamatteroftime is 4/1 for Willie and Danny Mullins but he is unraced on soft ground. His full brother Forgetthesurprise won three races, all on proper good ground and his dam’s half-brother, Shake The Bucket, also loved nice ground. I suspect that connections were anticipating a sounder surface when this horse was backed and the weather may well scupper their plot.
When the ground is soft, it usually is a big advantage to have at least one prep run. The last two winners of this race on good ground were returning from long absences, but the last couple of soft ground winners were race fit.
Ticks Both Boxes
One horse in here who ticks the recent run and ground boxes is the rag, Hey Johnny. Trained by Tom Mullins, this son of Worthadd has two wins to his name on testing ground. He won off 110 on yielding at Thurles last January and then he pitched up in a hot handicap hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival (16f yld).
Racing off 119, as they turned for home few were travelling sweeter. However, Danny Mullins was trapped on the inside and he had to sit and suffer while others made their moves. When he did find daylight, he picked up pretty well and he ran on for 5th, 6L behind the winner Gaelic Warrior but just 1.5L behind Ballyadam in third.
Decent Return
After another solid run at Naas, his form tailed off on his last two outings. He may have been feeling the effects of a long campaign and he showed a little bit more spark on his seasonal return at Galway (16f hvy) three weeks ago. He was beat 13L into 6th but it was a decent comeback on very taxing ground.
With Jack Foley taking off a handy 3lbs, Hey Johnny is effectively racing off the same mark that he ran so well off at the Dublin Racing Festival. On his only previous visit to Cheltenham he was sent off the 7/2 fav for a Novices’ Handicap at this meeting but he unseated at the first hurdle. He is 66/1 for this race and with extra places available, a small e/w interest is advised.
