Friday Cheltenham International Meeting Tips – DS
Friday Cheltenham International Meeting Tips
It is fair to say that last Sunday at Fairyhouse didn’t go to plan. Regina Dracones missed out on place money but she finished off well. Maybe she needed it. Marine Nationale won in spite of the ground, confirming himself as a proper horse. The ground went against Hercule De Seuil, who never travelled. El Barra was bitterly disappointing but both Ashdale Bob and Cotteemcavennigoal ran ok, the latter will go close when he gets better ground. We are back at jumps HQ this weekend, Dave Stevos’ Friday Cheltenham International Meeting tips are below.
1.50 – Mares’ Handicap Chase (Class 3)
The most likely scenario here is that one of the younger mares goes and wins. However, none of them really jump out as being overly well handicapped, apart from Gazette Bourgeoise. She ran in much better company than this last season and she performed with credit in a couple of Listed races. Ben Case is in good form and off 122, she should come on plenty for her seasonal comeback at Uttoxeter.
However, she is too short for the blog and in the hope that David Bridgwater has been lining Dame Du Soir up, I’m going to take a chance on her at 25/1. This mare has done all her winning on heavy/soft and it’ll be very different ground today. However, the form of her last couple of runs has worked out (on good ground) and she is now back at Cheltenham for the first time since running a pretty decent race in this a year ago.
Too Much Weight
That day she was rated 119 and had to carry 11st 8lbs. She jumped around pretty well until the last three or four obstacles when the weight she was carrying possibly took its toll. The winner, Vienna Court, bounded away to victory and Dame Du Soir was 21L behind her in 6th. She was only 7L away from 3rd and 10L away from 2nd and she now is back for another try off a much more realistic mark of 100.
With Lily Pinchin claiming 3lbs, Bridgy’s mare will think she is running loose with just 10 stone on her back. Pinchin is a good pilot, especially on front runners, and she is 1/6 when riding for Bridgwater with another two places. She has also had a winner and finished in the first four on 5 of her 13 rides at Cheltenham. Given Dame Du Soir’s profile, she isn’t going to get many chances to run in races with this much prize money and at 25/1, hopefully she can pick up a nice chunk of the £21k pot off effectively 22lbs lower than last year.
Friday Cheltenham International Meeting Tips: Dame Du Soir e/w @ 25/1 nb
2.25 – Dahlbury Handicap Chase (Premier)
A puzzle that may not be as tricky to solve as it looks at first glance. Commodore is the 9/2 fav for the resurgent Venetia Williams. He landed this prize last season on good to soft and his only subsequent run was a well beaten effort in the Grand National. He’s 9lbs higher than he was for last year’s success and his decent record when fresh is not enough to tempt at the prices.
Captain Cattistock ran very well here over 25f last time and in April he scored over today’s trip. Off the same mark as when 4L behind Lord Accord, he should be thereabouts. Eva’s Oscar also ran big here last time but he has a propensity to throw in a poor run after a good one. Switch Hitter and Undersupervision both lack a recent run while good old Spiritofthegames can almost always be relied upon to run his race without winning. I’d be tempted if he were 16/1 but he is only 8s.
Overpriced
The one that looks a bit of a mad price to me, all things considered, is Broken Quest. First of all, he is race fit. Second of all, he ran a huge race over 20f here last time off just a pound lower than he is today. Thirdly, good ground is right up his alley and most importantly, he is one of the most consistent horses in the race.
His only poor run in his last six starts came on his seasonal bow at Chepstow. He had previously reeled off four wins in a row before finishing a creditable 2nd in a decent Perth Handicap off 138. All his wins came at 24/25f and the fact he went off at 14/1 here over 20f last time suggested that David Dennis might have thought he needed one more run to hit peak fitness. He’s back up to his best trip, the ground looks perfect and at odds of 20/1, he has to be worth chancing e/w.
Friday Cheltenham International Meeting Tips: Broken Quest e/w @ 20/1 NAP
3.00 – Catesby Estates Handicap Hurdle (Class 3)
Although his last couple of visits haven’t gone to plan, it is worth giving Lively Citizen another chance now he is back at Cheltenham. He managed to win this race last season off a mark of 112 and he is only 5lbs higher now for his title defence. DJ Jeffreys said after that victory that he had targeted the race, it wouldn’t be the biggest shock in the world if he has followed the same plan again.
Last year he gave Lively Citizen one prep run, this time he has had two. It was a poor effort on his return here back in October but he wasn’t beaten as far last time out at Ascot. His mark has dropped to 117 after those two runs. The last time he raced off that rating he landed a handicap at Leicester and then he followed that up with a cracking effort off 121 when 2nd in the Imperial Cup at Sandown.
He is now 4lbs lower than he was at Sandown and his form figures at Cheltenham read 121P0. Charlie Deutsch takes over from Kielan Woods in the plate and he was on board for his first ever Cheltenham victory in November 2020. Softer ground would probably be ideal but it was riding closer to good than soft when he won last year and at odds of 16/1, DJ Jeffries’ charge is worth chancing e/w.
Friday Cheltenham International Meeting Tips: Lively Citizen e/w @ 16/1 (4 places)
3.35 – Citipost Handicap Hurdle (Class 2)
The finale on Friday at Cheltenham is this 24f, class 2 handicap hurdle. Just the 10 are due to go to post and Dusart is a warm order at 15/8. He had some very decent form over fences last season, including a defeat of Sounds Russian in a novices handicap. He was giving the runner up 2lbs off 147 and he is now rated 12lbs higher. However, he had a wind op in the off season and he is unlikely to be given too much of a hard race here.
We have backed Up The Straight a couple of times in the past and he has flopped. Last time at Ascot I thought he would run a big race, as did his trainer, but he never raised a gallop. Although this horse has managed to win twice over fences, his jumping can be a bit slow at times and a return to hurdling could be just what the doctor ordered.
He has run over timber once before at Cheltenham and it was a cracking effort. Back in October 2020 he ran on really well for 3rd of 19 behind Captain Tom Cat, beat just under 3L off a mark of 135. That is actually the last time he ran over the smaller obstacles and he is now 5lbs lower off 130. Maybe he’ll need this run to boost his confidence but if he can repeat the form he showed on his last run over hurdles here, he might sneak into the money at odds of 16/1.
