Five horses to watch at the 2018 International Meeting at Cheltenham
Matt Brocklebank highlights a handful of horses he expects to light up this weekend's International Meeting at Cheltenham.
Downtown Getaway – 12.10 Cheltenham, Friday
Nicky Henderson admitted after I Can’t Explain’s victory at Sandown over the weekend that the Seven Barrows team had ‘used that race a lot in the past’ as a stepping stone for young hurdlers, and the same could also be argued of Friday’s British Stallion Studs EBF ‘National Hunt’ Novices’ Hurdle, the International meeting opener. While without success in the race since 2011, that year’s winner Darlan was completing a treble for Henderson after General Miller and Prince Of Pirates, so his runners clearly must be respected. There are four entered at the time of writing but Downtown Getaway is a fascinating potential contender having won a Fairyhouse bumper by 12 lengths for Margaret Mullins on his only previous racecourse visit 12 months ago. There are six subsequent scorers to have emerged from that event, winning 10 races in total between them, including the likes of Dinnons and Lone Wolf. Whether he runs this week or not, Downtown Getaway is a horse to be excited about.
DOWNTOWN GETAWAY wins the Devinish @MeathGAA Bumper for Mags Mullins and @katiewalsh9 to finish off an absolutely brilliant weekend of racing! #Fairyhouse #WinterFestival pic.twitter.com/eWwDmH7Ril
— FairyhouseRacecourse (@Fairyhouse) December 3, 2017
Drovers Lane – 12.45 Cheltenham, Friday & 12.45 Cheltenham, Saturday
Don’t allow Drovers Lane to sneak in under your radar, no matter which option connections decide to take up. Rebecca Curtis’ Oscar gelding wasn’t a bad hurdler by any means but he looks like taking a much higher rank as a chaser and may well have been three from three in this sphere had he not blundered badly three out at Aintree, when bidding to follow up his fencing debut success at Hereford. He got back in the groove with a smooth 11-length victory from a mark of 135 at Market Rasen last month and looks more than capable of mixing it in decent company as the season goes on.
Master Work – 1.20 Cheltenham, Friday
It’s pretty clear we didn’t see the best of a lot of Philip Hobbs' horses last season and he’s begun the campaign with a lot of well-handicapped runners in light of a relatively poor return. One such example looks to be Master Work, who struggled after winning on debut last October but has really hit his straps now, defying an 8lb rise for winning at Warwick when following up with ease at Leicester. This will demand more but running here under a 7lb penalty before the assessor has fully had his say makes a lot of sense and he just looks a really well treated two-mile hurdler who has a load more to offer.
Vinndication – 12.45 Cheltenham, Saturday
It’s hard not to be excited about seeing Vinndication step up to three miles at some point (never mind Christmas!), but Kim Bailey is sticking at two and a half for the time being and it’ll be very interesting to see how he fares against some quality opposition following a comfortable chasing debut success at Carlisle. Unbeaten now in a bumper, three hurdles and chase, Vinndication really does look the real deal and having beaten Western Ryder in a Listed event at Warwick back in February, we know he should make the grade in this discipline. Bailey has suggested he “won’t have many runs this season” so, whether you’re having a bet or not, he’s not to be missed in the Ryman Novices’ Chase this weekend as he remains a serious prospect for the future.
War Sound – 1.55 Cheltenham, Saturday
It’s another Hobbs horse who looks to have completely turned over a new leaf this season. Granted, we have limited evidence that that is in fact the case – just the one run to be precise – but War Sound absolutely bolted up under Tom O’Brien at Aintree on good ground over two and a half miles last month and we know he’s perfectly at home on much softer ground following a string of placed efforts earlier in his career. He’s been hit with a 10lb rise for that wide-margin comeback win but was rated even higher in his pomp over hurdles and Hobbs will be hoping Frodon runs to keep the weights down a bit. The yard won the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup in 2015 with Village Vic, who suddenly shot up the ratings from 125 to 157 that season and there’s a chance we could be looking at a similar type here.
War Sound wins at @AintreeRaces for Tom O'Brien and @PJHobbs1 pic.twitter.com/YGeFAnYSsA
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) November 10, 2018
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