Daryl Jacob looks ahead to his two rides at Cheltenham on Friday including A Hare Breath in the feature BetVictor Handicap Chase.
A HARE BREATH – 1.50 Cheltenham
I’m really looking forward to riding A Hare Breath today.
He’s got a fantastic record first time out as he showed last season when I rode him to victory in a Listed handicap hurdle at Sandown, where he moved through the race really well to win off a mark of 139.
After that he didn’t run too badly in a competitive County Hurdle off 145, where he was eighth, so off 140 back over fences today he looks well handicapped on the best of his hurdling form.
Obviously, he hasn’t shown that he’s quite so good over fences yet, but he’s only had three goes and I’m hopeful he can take advantage of his mark this afternoon.
He’s working well and I schooled him over fences earlier in the week where he jumped beautifully, so hopefully he can replicate that at Cheltenham in a race environment today.
LE BREUIL – 2.25 Cheltenham
This novice chase has produced some stars over the years with the likes of Denman, Dynaste and Finian’s Oscar winning it and it looks a competitive race again today.
Ben Pauling has always thought the world of Le Breuil and though he has had a bit of a stop-start career so far he has shown glimpses of real talent, including when he beat Benatar by nine lengths as a novice hurdler.
Hopefully he can have a smoother run of things now he’s gone chasing and we can see how high he can climb.
Obviously it was only a two-runner race at Huntingdon last time and he was sent off the 1/9 favourite, but he gave me a nice feel and he jumped well in the main.
Today is a much tougher test, but we’ll get a good idea of what route he’ll take throughout the season after today and I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do.
*Daryl's weekend column will be out on Friday afternoon, reflecting on his recent rides and looking ahead to his Saturday and Sunday mounts.
Related links
