Alex Hammond Blog: Cheltenham reflections and tips for the weekend's action
Alex Hammond reflects on the mesmerising victory of Apple's Shakira and looks ahead to this weekend's feature races.
The jumps season really took off with Cheltenham’s three-day November Meeting last weekend. Which performances stood out for you?
Oh crikey, where to start? I was taken with the performances of both Finian’s Oscar and Movewiththetimes, the first two horses home in Friday’s Steel Plate and Sections Novices’ Chase.
This race has been won by some real superstars in the past including Denman and Imperial Commander and I think this duo will hit similar heights given a bit of luck and judgement.
They could both end up at Cheltenham in March with the Arkle, JLT and RSA all viable options depending on ground conditions on the day. At the moment Finian’s Oscar is shortest in the market for the JLT at 6/1 with Sky Bet.
Also on Friday, I liked the look of Nicky Henderson’s On The Blind Side who won the closing Grade 2 Novices’ Hurdle. He looks to be getting the hang of things and could be one for the Albert Bartlett, for which he’s now 14/1 with Sky Bet.
I was also impressed with Slate House who handled the really testing ground to win the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle Trial on Sunday.
I think he’s one for the long term and trainer Colin Tizzard suggested as such after his win. There’s no doubt that the odds -n favourite Dame De Compagnie ran below expectations, but let’s not take anything away from the winner who looks to have an exciting future.
He’s by Presenting and generally they prefer better ground, which makes it even more impressive. He was a £260,000 purchase back in the spring which is no surprise for an Irish point-to-point winner who hails from the family of Big Buck's and I hope we'll see much more of him in the seasons to come.
If there was one horse running at Cheltenham last weekend that you think could follow-up at the Festival in March… please tell us now!
Now that one is easy! I was stunned by the performance of Apple’s Shakira and she must have a great chance in the Triumph Hurdle at the Festival for which she’s now 4/1 clear favourite.
Hopefully you were listening last week when I pointed you in her direction and she was still a 16/1 shot for the juvenile hurdle race in March!
Having watched her France win on YouTube I thought she was a really scopey, athletic mare and she proved that to be the case at Cheltenham on Saturday. She drifted out before being backed into even money favourite last weekend, which surprised me, as I was sure she would be an unbackable price.
She’s a full sister to top-class mare Apple’s Jade and this filly is showing all the right signs to follow in her illustrious sibling’s footsteps.
Sisters are doin' it for themselves.
— Racing UK (@Racing_UK) November 18, 2017
Apple's Shakira, a full sister to Apple's Jade, leaves Geraghty stunned ▶️ https://t.co/CIC3Tsz2Vx pic.twitter.com/obUzFyZ6G5
The BHA this week announced the declaration of wind ops will be made compulsory in January. Is this a good thing for British racing?
I personally think so, as you can’t have too much information as a punter.
In the past if I had got wind of (excuse the pun) news that a horse had had a breathing op, I always used to feel I had somehow got hold of privileged information. In this day and age information is widely available about numerous things (apart from when a mare is in foal, but that’s another story) and it’s about time this information was made public knowledge.
I know it hasn’t gone down well in all quarters with some trainers stating that these procedures are not always beneficial/successful and also that breeders may be unhappy in case it devalues their stock at stud.
I can see both arguments, but it’s up to punters to decide if they feel a horse is a more attractive betting proposition owing to a recent wind operation, or not. That’s the nature of gambling, but knowledge is power and it’s important not to keep racing fans in the dark.
We need to lift the veil off our industry as much as possible in order to encourage new people to this great sport and it’s not helpful to treat racegoers, punters and fans like mushrooms; if you know what I mean?!
The Betfair Chase takes place at Haydock on Saturday and it looks like it'll be run on really testing ground. With that in mind where’s your money going?
The race will be run without Gold Cup winner Sizing John as his trainer Jessica Harrington sensibly isn’t keen to let her stable star slog his guts out on heavy ground at Haydock on his seasonal reappearance; he’ll instead start off in the John Durkan Memorial next month.
Saturday’s race still looks like shaping up to be a cracker though.
Nigel Twiston-Davies��� Bristol De Mai is an exciting young chaser who could be set for a superb season after getting things started by winning the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby. He won't mind the testing ground and has winning form around Haydock too which is a bonus nowadays.
Cue Card fell in the Charlie Hall, but I think we can write that off, certainly back at Haydock in this race, which he has almost made his own. He won it in 2013, 2015 and 2016. He will be ridden by Harry Cobden for the first time on Saturday which may spark a revival too as for some older horses familiarity can breed contempt.
I'm not suggesting that is the case here, but it’s not unusual for a horse to put his best foot forward when a new pilot is deployed.
At the prices though I’m going to take a punt on Sky Bet’s 11/2 third favourite Outlander. He’s no slouch having won 10 of his 24 starts, three at Grade 1 level. He's trained by the master that is Gordon Elliott and comes here off the back of a win in the JNWine.com Champion Chase at Down Royal.
He had an operation in the summer to help alleviate a back problem, which looks to have helped him and there's no doubt he's brilliant on his day. Let's hope his is his day.
It's a 1-2 for Gigginstown as Outlander takes the @jnwine Champion Chase at @Downroyal: pic.twitter.com/WkC7G1RMCM
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) November 4, 2017
Plenty of good racing on the rest of the Haydock card and at Ascot on Saturday. What else tickles your fancy?
I'm looking forward to seeing Top Notch in Ascot’s Christy 1965 Chase. I think Nicky Henderson’s charge will have benefitted from his seasonal debut over hurdles at Aintree earlier this month when third of three behind Unowhatimeanharry and Value At Risk and that should have helped prime him for a return to chasing.
Barry Geraghty is also jocked up on Palmers Hill in the opening Novices’ Hurdle at Ascot and I’m looking forward to seeing Jonjo O’Neill’s exciting young horse in action again. I backed him when he won on hurdles debut at Uttoxeter last month and he looked pretty special that day. He could have run at Cheltenham at the weekend, but they come here instead and I hope he takes another step up the ladder.
Staying at Ascot and the Philip Hobbs-trained Defi Du Seuil could start his season off in the Coral Hurdle for which he is even money favourite, but deservedly so.
I hope we get to see him here and if we do, that he wins easily. In case you need reminding, he has won eight of his nine starts, including the Triumph Hurdle and Aintree’s 4yo Hurdle and I’m looking forward to seeing how he fares in his second season hurdling.
At Haydock I’m looking forward to seeing The Worlds End in the Stayers Handicap Hurdle.
He’s a horse I put up as one to follow at the beginning of the season and Tom George’s six-year-old could put himself in line for an eventual tilt at the Stayers Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival with a decent performance here.
There is just a concern about really testing ground, which he is unproven on. He’s 5/1 for Saturday’s race and 10/1 for Cheltenham.
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