Cheltenham Festival update: Spotlight on Ferny Hollow and Bottler'secret
By Matt Brocklebank
09:27 · MON February 26, 2024
Matt Brocklebank reflects on the pick of Sunday's action from Naas and wonders if the meeting is a touch close for realistic Cheltenham clues.
What’s the latest development?
Ferny Hollow defied a 791-day layoff at Naas to belatedly take his chasing record to 3-3 and seemingly put himself in the picture for a tilt at the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham.
Injury-plagued Ferny Hollow was a brilliant bumper horse in 2019-20, winning at Fairyhouse in the February before following up under Paul Townend in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper, Patrick Mullins having chosen to ride the Dublin Racing Festival winner Appreciate It, who went off 15/8 favourite and had to settle for second.
Ferny Hollow was seemingly on track to become a top-class novice hurdler the following season too, having beaten Bob Olinger by a length on his debut in a maiden hurdle at Gowran in November 2020, only for news to emerge that he’d suffered a “suspected stress fracture” when not appearing among the Leopardstown entries that Christmas.
He had just over a year out in the end but returned in December 2021 by landing skinny odds in a Punchestown beginners chase (2m1f) before a relatively swift turnaround saw the son of Westerner open his Grade 1 account over jumps in the Racing Post Novice Chase at Leopardstown on Boxing Day.
However, it was an all-too-familiar tale as he was then ruled out for the remainder of that campaign and hadn’t been sighted in public for over two years before winning Sunday’s Grade 3 Newlands Chase.
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Held up early on in the 2m contest, Ferny Hollow raced with typical exuberance (has now worn a hood for last six starts) but jumped consistently well throughout other than brushing through the top of the fifth-last, and again at the final fence.
He was switched out towards the centre of the track two out before taking command on the approach to the last and quickening nicely to win by five and a half lengths from Rebel Gold in second and another length and a quarter back to Espanito Bello in third.
Runner-up Rebel Gold, officially rated 143 by the Irish handicapper, was conceding the winner 7lb.
What do the markets say?
Ferny Hollow’s sole Cheltenham Festival entry is the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase, for which he was cut to a general 7/1 having started the day around 14/1 and as big as 25s with Unibet.
His Willie Mullins stablemate El Fabiolo remains the odds-on favourite, with Betfred easing him a fraction from 4/9 to 1/2, though most layers – including Sky Bet, Paddy Power and Betfair - have him a rock-solid 2/5 chance.
Jonbon is the second favourite at a general 3/1, while it’s 20/1 Captain Guinness and Elixir De Nutz.
After nearly 800 days away, it would be surprising were Ferny Hollow turned out again in another 17 to take up his Queen Mother engagement.
I’ve no doubt he has the natural ability and should have been in that sort of company before now, had all been well, but he must be one of the most fragile horses Mullins has had to deal with in recent seasons and, having had to rule Allaho and Grangeclare West out of Cheltenham already, Cheveley Park will be particularly keen to avoid another injury setback with this horse.
So the Champion Chase looks a three-way shootout with just over a fortnight to go and let’s hope El Fabiolo, Jonbon and Edwardstone all stay sound as I’m not completely convinced that will be quite as cut-and-dried as the market currently suggests.
Honourable mention: Secret’s out
Paul Nicholls ruled out a shot at the Triumph Hurdle with Saturday’s Adonis Hurdle winner Kalif Du Berlais and we are clearly getting a bit tight to the Festival now, but I just wonder if Gavin Cromwell might be tempted to throw Bottler’secret into the mix.
He won the Grade 3 Winning Fair Juvenile Hurdle that opened up Sunday’s action from Naas, and he did so in emphatic style.
This was not a strong heat for the class of race – the trainer admitted as much – but Bottler’secret looked quite classy when winning a Galway maiden and a 10-furlong handicap on the Flat last year and he’s evidently a bit of a natural at the jumping game too.
Cromwell suggested he wished he’d got his hands on the horse a little earlier in the campaign and, like Nicholls a day earlier, certainly wasn’t making any promises regarding Cheltenham, but if one of them turns up on the Friday of the Festival then it will be Bottler’secret, who is an intriguing prospect with a significant amount of potential this spring.
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