Punters can land a heavy blow on the bookies with Unowhatimeanharry, on Day 3 of the Festival, Seymour Biz believes.
Well, are we any clearer about the best bets for the Festival in just five weeks time? We have had some great racing over the weekend but has it cleared the muddy waters in the betting ring? After their victories on Saturday, Beveur D’Air should win the Champion Hurdle, Footpad should win the Arkle, Min can win the Champion Chase as we haven’t seen Altior yet, Supasundae only has an entry for the Stayers Hurdle and he is perfectly capable of winning that, Barney Dwan did himself no harm but is still a big price for the RSA. So that’s what we picked up as positives, what about the negatives, well Faugheen was beaten but only by 2 1/2 lengths, age and injuries are starting to tell. Melon ran poorly as did Defi Du Seuil. There is something badly wrong with Yorkhill after finishing tailed off in the Dublin Chase and Special Tiara was easily seen off in the same race. On Sunday at Musselburgh, We Have A Dream did his Triumph Hurdle claims no end of good, I am sure Nicky Henderson was well pleased. Samcro now looks nailed on for the Ballymore Novices Hurdle on the Wednesday. At the same meeting Claimantakinforgan and Mr Whipped were both beaten when odds on favourites. Over in Ireland Mr Adjudicator‘s victory led to a cut in his price for the Triumph, he is now down to 8/1. Also at Leopardstown Monalee and Total Recall enhanced their claims with good wins, their connections are left with tough choices to contemplate about their future, they are both declared for a couple of races at Cheltenham. The connections of Our Duke will be disappointed with his showing in the Irish Gold Cup and will wonder on his chance in the big one at the Festival. In the meantime let’s look at a couple more of the Cheltenham races.
Firstly, let’s look at the Sun Bets Stayers Hurdle, at the top of the betting we have Supasundae and Sam Spinner at around 3//1 and 7/2 respectively. Supasundae is claiming favouritism after his victory at the Dublin Festival and winning the Coral Cup last year, however he has never won at three miles. Sam Spinner on the other hand has won the last four out of five, the last two hot races at Haydock and Ascot, which I think justifies his price. However there is better value elsewhere in the betting and I drift towards Unowhatimeanharry, he was third in this race last year to the now sadly demised Nichols Canyon but can do better this time. In his last race he was beaten by Sam Spinner but he blundered at the second last and that put paid to his chances, the going was heavy that day and with better going at Cheltenham he can improve on that performance. Others in the betting with chances are Yanworth who is also declared for the RSA, and L’Ami Serge, who was second in the County Hurdle last year, but has not been victorious this year. Uknowhatimeanharry is worth a small investment.
Uknowhatimeanharry (11/1 RaceBets) 2pts ew
The JCB Triumph Hurdle, a two miler for four year olds can be a rough affair, it is a race they say a horse is trained for and is useless after that. Well these days that is not quite true, Apples Jade, Footpad, Top Notch and Sametegal have all been placed in recent years showing entries have trained on. Apple’s Shakira is the favourite for this years renewal and has a great record of four from four including three at Cheltenham but 5/2 in a race like this is no value, no matter what Nicky Henderson thinks. However Henderson has another contender who won at Musselburgh on Sunday, We Have A Dream, he rattled up his four timer with this race and has won in a field of fifteen, his price has dropped dramatically but is still better value than his stablemate. Mr Adjudicator had a good win in Ireland and has come into the frame, as has Stormy Ireland, Willie Mullins’ entry who won at Fairyhouse in December however he didn’t beat much that day. I will stick with Henderson’s charge, We Have a Dream.
We Have A Dream (5/1 RaceBets) 3pts win