Lydia Hislop Road To Cheltenham Part Eight

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Apples Jade 4/1 non-runner/no bet Sun Bets Stayers Hurdle

Poetic Rhythm 28/1 Albert Bartlett

The most significant action took place among the novice ranks in the past week, while excuses from the major disappointments of the Christmas period started to leak out – or, worse, failed to materialise in two notable cases.

Meanwhile, three bookmakers have gone non-runner-no-bet for the six championship races: the Champion, Stayers and Mares’ Hurdles and the Champion Chase, Ryanair and Gold Cup.

Sun Bets Stayers’ Hurdle

I’m taking at face value connections’ reports that Wholestone “had a couple of problems” after disappointing at Newbury last time because his back-to-form Grade Two Relkeel success on New Year’s Day certainly fits in with an otherwise steadily progressive profile.

He was always travelling well at Cheltenham – smoothly enough for jockey Daryl Jacob to be able to ease across to the stands’ side rail in the straight. His worst jump came at the last – perhaps because, having hit the front and got the race in effect won, he lost concentration – but on the whole that facet of his performance has also improved this season.

“I got there a mile too soon,” admitted Jacob. “But I wanted to get to the rail. It’s a big help in this ground.”

It’s been tough going – pun intended – around the country during this very wet holiday period, although undoubtedly within the scope of this column Haydock gets the prize for being nearest to unraceable. We also know Wholestone is effective on a sound surface, given his third to Penhill in last term’s Albert Bartlett.

“That’s the best he has jumped and travelled and gone for a bit,” acknowledged trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies. “He was a little bit sick and sorry for himself after Newbury.

“He has run really well on good ground. The Stayers’ is a race that is looking a bit more open than some of the others and we will definitely have a look at the Cleeve at the end of the month.”

It was sweet revenge on Colin’s Sister, who had twice finished ahead of Wholestone this term – most notably in the Grade Two West Yorkshire Hurdle, for which she carried a penalty in third here. While she was a shade disappointing in ground that should have suited, the winner is worth his shot at the Stayers’ Hurdle in March – even if I can’t quite see him being good enough to hit the frame.

Runner-up Agrapart conceded 3lbs to Wholestone here and was patiently ridden before taking a while to get going. When his impetus was up, however, he stayed on very strongly up the final hill.

He is so ground-dependent that this undoubtedly fine effort has little significance for spring prizes but a rematch with the winner over three miles in the Cleeve would be interesting. Haydock’s Grade Two Rendlesham Hurdle also appeals a potential option for Nick Williams’ charge.

Old Guard ran another doughty race, on ground that probably doesn’t suit, without suggesting he can make his presence felt at this level in this division. Royal Vacation, switched to hurdling after losing his way over fences, ran in highly encouraging fashion and would be well handicapped if returning to form over fences as well.

Having floated the possibility that Finian’s Oscar could yet make the switch back to hurdles due to lacking the gumption for fences to date – a problem trainer Colin Tizzard to date proposes to fix with headgear, mind, not a change of discipline – I must also acknowledge that his Punchestown Festival conqueror Bacardys could head this way, too, after two underwhelming chase outings, the latest ending with a fall.

Finally, the move to NRNB by the three firms mentioned above has seen recent Leopardstown heroine Apple’s Jade trimmed to outright favourite ahead of Sam Spinner – as suggested would rightly happen in my previous column.

I still think there’s room in both the 100/30 available with Betfair (and even the 3/1 with Paddy Power and Bet365) and so would advise you to take the precaution of a NRNB saver for the Stayers’ Hurdle on this mare. You get your money back if the O’Learys happen to heed Gordon Elliott’s plaintive Mares’ Hurdle cries and she’s likely to go off shorter for this if they don’t.

Exclusive price: 4/1 Apple's Jade non-runner/no bet Stayers' Hurdle

Unibet Champion Hurdle

Still no explanation has emerged for the sorry sight of former champion Faugheen pulling up in last week’s Ryanair. If anything, that’s even more worrying.

“Faugheen was checked over by the vet yesterday morning and he seems fine,” said trainer Willie Mullins at Fairyhouse on Monday. “He didn’t eat up as much as we’d like but we’ll do more tests on him and see how he is over the next week. There is nothing obviously wrong with him.”

Some have optimistically forwarded the mysterious ‘bounce factor’ to explain his alarming display – the theory that the 2015 Champion Hurdle victor ran so huge a race on his return from an absence that he recoiled from the effort on his next start.

Until proved otherwise, I’m instead more inclined retrospectively to mark down his reappearance form – a 16-length defeat of fellow veteran Jezki. The runner-up also did little to advertise the form when somehow beaten 25 lengths by Apple’s Jade in a race run barely quicker than at a trot. Faugheen’s comparative time back at Punchestown admittedly looked relatively good but those to whom it was relative have also let the side down.

However, there has been no mention of retirement from anyone connected with the horse – and that can be construed as a positive sign. Bombing out clearly wasn’t something they were half-expecting.

“Barring anything popping up of a more serious nature, absolutely we’ll crack on,” confirmed owner Rich Ricci. “Whether he’ll go for the Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown in the first week of February or whether he’ll go straight to Cheltenham, I don’t know but we’ll crack on. Hopefully, it’s just one of those things.”

The only other news in this division hails from the sickbed. Philip Hobbs has belatedly revealed that Defi Du Seuil scoped dirty after his Ascot defeat behind Lil Rockerfeller in November, like a number of his horses at the time. The yard went on to endure an uncharacteristically poor December with just one winner from 41 runners – both numbers being well down on the norm.

Last year’s Triumph Hurdle star is reportedly set to run before Cheltenham in an attempt to determine whether the Champion Hurdle is a viable target. Given owner JP McManus already has odds-on favourite Buveur D’Air and triple runner-up My Tent Or Yours as undisputed contenders for this race, it’s by no means certain Defi Du Seuil will run. A Stayers’ Hurdle option would be no surprise.

OLBG Mares’ Hurdle

Apart from the mildly underwhelming Relkeel third from Colin’s Sister already discussed in the Stayers’ section, there is nothing doing in this division this week.

But if you didn’t take the 12/1 as advised about Let’s Dance last week, I’d suggest 10/1 is perfectly fair still. Each-way is, of course, essential given the dominant potential presence of Apple’s Jade.

Elliott told At The Races this week that the favourite “goes straight to Cheltenham for the mares’ race”. Unfortunately, the TV in the O’Leary household was on mute at the time.

Ryanair Chase

Should conventional aspirations not work out for Bachasson, Mullins might consider targeting him at Romford’s Champion Stakes because he rails like a bunny if his recent Listed Tramore victory is anything to go by.

This was supposed to be a proper race on paper, with the higher-rated Champagne West and consistent A Toi Phil (conceding 3lbs) in the four-strong field. As it turned out, the former’s jumping – not atypically – let him down and he’s also a shadow of last season’s self so far; the latter ran more creditably but was simply never going as well as the winner.

When he crossed the line, Bachasson was comfortably clear by 13 lengths and had recorded a standout career-best performance. Having been kept to relatively shallow waters last season, it’s clearly now time to dip back into the better class of race he attempted as a novice hurdler.

“He jumped super and the only semblance of a mistake he made was at the last when he was a bit lonely and tired,” said rider Paul Townend. “It’s very heavy ground out there… He is a forward-going horse who is quick to the other side of his fences. He is a much stronger horse this year and has filled in to himself.”

Mullins suggested the Grade Three Kinloch Brae Chase at Thurles could be a feasible option – a race in which you run the risk of running into a high-class beast these days, despite being downgraded from Grade Two in 2017. Gold Cup heroes Don Cossack and Sizing John have won the past three renewals between them.

There would then be a sizeable deterrent to his most appropriate Cheltenham target (if indeed that Festival is even under consideration) given relatively small-scale owner Edward O’Connell already has the Ryanair favourite in Un De Sceaux.

I can’t see either horse switching to an alternative target at that meeting, so given Bachasson’s slick jumping perhaps Aintree is more likely – or staying at home for some of Ireland’s key spring races. His best efforts have come on testing ground to date, however.

At Punchestown the preceding day, stable companion Killultagh Vic made a winning return from a near two-year absence despite a remarkably clumsy round of jumping in a 2m4f hurdle. The form was nothing special and the time didn’t compare that well but was great to see this talented horse back on the track.

You may recall the astonishing recovery he made to win a Grade Two novices’ chase at Leopardstown in January 2016 when, with the race at his mercy, he jumped the final fence but sprawled badly on landing to the extent he came to a complete standstill. Such was his class that he was able to recover to regain victory near the line.

However, as anyone watching would have feared at the time, the bad news came later when it emerged he had cracked his pelvis and damaged a suspensory ligament as a result of that famous “speed wobble”, as his trainer termed it at the time.

Prior to that pyrrhic victory, I’d tipped him in this column at 14/1 for the 2016 JLT. Since then he’s lingered long and wide in punters’ collective memory, having haunted last season's Ryanair ante-post market for many months and even having topped this term’s Foxhunters betting at one stage when seemingly in the care of Colin McBratney.

In the world of Stan James, he’s still a Foxhunters contender. Otherwise, he’s now as low as a slightly hysterical 7/1 NRNB for the Ryanair with Bet365 yet mostly 25/1 for that race, where quoted, elsewhere.

Even at the latter double-figure price and despite Killultagh Vic having clearly retained plenty of ability, the punting percentage call is to assume that an injury warranting a 714-day absence compromises his prospects at this grade. I hope I’m wrong in that reasoning because I like the horse very much.

Mullins certainly still regards him as a high-class competitor, with talk of the Grade Two Red Mills Chase at Gowran next month or even the Kinloch Brae again, although he admitted to this being Plan B for the season and that the latter might “come too soon”.

“His engine is still intact but his hurdling brain hasn’t changed much,” joked Mullins. “Hopefully, everything will be all right with him over the next week and we’ll probably look for a fence for him next time. The main thing is he comes out of this race right. And we’ll look for a target after that.

“I was thinking of leaving him over hurdles for the rest of the season but after the way he jumped there, we’ll probably look for a chase… I couldn’t see him stepping up in class over hurdles the way he jumped there.

“We did school him over fences at Leopardstown during the week and maybe that was still in his head out there today. The right thing to do is to go up in trip with him over fences. Today’s job is done. The nest job is to see how he comes out of the race.”

Finally in this division, there is talk of Cue Card – whose remaining limited campaign includes either this race or the Timico Gold Cup – returning at Kempton later this month rather than waiting for the Grade One Ascot Chase next month – the race he won last term. He’d have to carry a penalty in the earlier target but it would be a distinct easing of grade for the old warrior.

Timico Gold Cup

Nothing to add to the previous two Roads, action-wise, unless you count Anibale Fly’s seven-length success in a Leopardstown handicap chase from a mark of 148. On paper, that makes him a fringe Grade One player. He jumped better than can be the case on this occasion.

In other news, Simon Munir – who, with Isaac Souede owns brilliant Betfair Chase winner Bristol De Mai – gave an update to ITV Racing about the usually bold-galloping grey following his King George flop, when he jumped badly and was comfortably seen off when eyeballed by Might Bite.

“Bristol De Mai had a full MOT on Friday at hospital and we got the report… yesterday… [that] he had ulcers, which we’re now treating,” Munir said. “Hopefully, he should improve next time. If you’ve got pain in your stomach as you’re jumping fences, it impedes performance but it’s very common.”

That news could well go some way to explaining a muted performance and 20/1 still represents an over-reaction to his Kempton defeat, even if it’s not exactly appealing.

On the other hand, Sizing John finds himself in company with Faugheen after his trainer Jessica Harrington admitted that further tests “have not found any clinical reason” for his flop in the Christmas Chase. You’d want a clutch-able reason for the 7/1 second favourite running that badly, wouldn’t you?

Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase

The only news in this division is yak – of the potentially explosive variety. When interviewed on talkSPORT2, owner Rich Ricci revealed that the season might not yet be lost with dual Cheltenham Festival winner Douvan.

You will recall that in mid-December, Mullins made the uncharacteristically unambiguous statement that Douvan “won’t be running this season” due to having been “intermittently lame” since missing his Tingle Creek engagement. Since then, life has continued not to be very solid but very shifting.

“Douvan is a real head-scratcher,” Ricci said. “We’re still not entirely convinced we know what’s wrong with him because he’s absolutely fine. As Willie [Mullins] said the other day, we are waiting for a final blow-up report from France to see what we need to do.

“At the moment, he’s doing plenty of walking and we’ll have to see what happens. He deserves a chance to do himself justice. I’d love to have him back. I’m hoping we could get a run into him this season but we’ll just have to see what the vets say and make a plan.”

Now, entries for the Champion Chase close at noon next Tuesday. It will be interesting to see whether Ricci’s hope merits an actual Cheltenham Festival engagement or whether he’s purely talking about an Aintree or even Punchestown possibility. If it’s the former, find cover.

Novice chasers

At the risk of again mortally offending trainer Alan King and yet with the prospect of Grade One chase targets ahead, I wasn’t convinced by Yanworth’s Dipper Novices’ Chase success on New Year’s Day.

Clearly, it was a better round of jumping than we have seen from this undisputedly talented animal in the past but this Grade Two success also had its flaws. Frankly, Yanworth has far too great a sense of self-preservation to put himself out too much for this human conceit of horse racing.

Therefore, he’s a safe jumper – it would be foolish to be otherwise – but he’d rather balloon one than take a cut. He can jump well – he even needed a good leap at the last to definitely quell Sizing Tennessee in the manner his smooth travelling when challenging that front-runner presaged – but you wouldn’t bet your bottom dollar on him stepping up for you.

He’s undoubtedly got Grade One ability – he’s already won twice at that level in his career to date – but his mentality for the task resides a little lower. Hence he was pulling himself up on the run-in, perhaps disdainfully concluding that jockey Barry Geraghty needed to exert himself more visibly.

Remember when Yanworth briefly shaped to run out in a novice hurdle in January 2016 and some of us started to question his parentage? This son of Norse Dancer is everything he seemed then to be, for better and for worse.

“He’s going to be the death of me,” King joked, after watching Yanworth almost pull himself up on hitting the front. “His jumping was good. Full credit to Wayne [Hutchinson, King’s retained jockey] and Yogi Breisner, who have done a lot of work with him. They’ve had two good sessions to get him to shorten a little bit and that was very evident as he was very good at it.

“He’s gone and winged the last and I thought he was going to go and win by two or three lengths and then he’s suddenly pricked his ears. Luckily, when the other horse [Sizing Tennessee] came to him he went again. It’s not straightforward but he was much better. That was a big step in the right direction.”

Yet even on the ability front, Yanworth also doesn’t have enough – if any – clear blue water between himself and the calibre of rival he’ll be meeting at the Cheltenham Festival or for other significant targets.

Quotes of 10/1 for the RSA or 8/1 for the JLT – and King confirmed he’d be entered for both races – therefore appeal not at all. The longer trip would probably be the better option, mind, given the manner of his jumping and the fact he’s unexposed at three miles.

He was receiving 3lbs from the runner-up and 5lbs from third-placed Willoughby Court, who’d previously comprehensively out-jumped Yanworth at Newbury. Geraghty also made a point of keeping him to the outside of this small field. Such ministrations would at best cost them ground they can’t afford to lose in a deeper contest or at worst be thwarted in their execution by a busier race. He’s not for me.

For those who still believe, it’ll be either the Scilly Isles or the Reynoldstown next and if it’s the latter, King suggested that would indicate connections prefer the three-mile route culminating in the RSA – although that depends to some extent on what else owner JP McManus has for the various races.

Sizing Tennessee actually did a lot more than he had previously to convince me he’s up to the RSA task. He probably would have beaten subsequent Grade One winner Black Corton, albeit in receipt of 8lbs, when falling at Cheltenham in October but jumping had proved his frailty.

“He is a good horse now,” observed trainer Colin Tizzard. “He would in all probability have beaten Black Corton first time up but he frightened himself at the top of the hill. He won last time and we schooled him this week and he looked like he was back. I think he will be RSA-bound now.”

He certainly sits more comfortably in my thinking for that race than his prominent stablemates: Kauto Star runner-up Elegant Escape, who looks a better fit for the NH Chase, and third-placed West Approach, who shapes as though he needs his sights lowering. Even so, Sizing Tennessee needs to find further improvement.

I’m giving Willoughby Court a free pass for this performance. He didn’t look happy from a very early stage – perhaps due to the ground – and that might have contributed to rider Nico de Boinville’s change of tactics in riding him more conservatively. That didn’t seem to suit the horse either. He also made a chance-compromising error when not getting high enough and clouting the fourth last.

Having had time to reflect, trainer Ben Pauling concluded in his sportinglife.com column this week: “He didn’t really travel and you can put that down to the ground. That’s just his third start over fences and that’s why I thought it was important to go and get experience around Cheltenham because it’s such a different track.

“It’s the ultimate test – the fences come at you quickly as you’re often on the turn and it’s not quite like a galloping track like Newbury. They have to be clever and quick and accurate.

“He didn’t make any serious mistakes barring the fourth last and I’d be very confident now going forward with him with that experience under his belt. He’ll be a completely different horse come March. And undoubtedly he has handled soft ground before but he’ll be happier in the spring.

“On Monday he found himself on the rail as Nico didn’t want to be any further out as the front two were jumping slightly right and to me it just looked like a horse still learning his trade. I think it’s testament to his ability and tenacity that he produced the performance that he did, beaten only eight lengths.”

Pauling reiterated that while three-mile events would be on the agenda next season, he’ll be keeping Willoughby Court to intermediate trips for now and so the JLT remains his Festival target. He believes the 2017 Neptune (now Ballymore) winner will still be competitive at the Festival and so do I.

Back in fourth, Ballyandy was never jumping with any fluency and continues to shape – as he did over hurdles – as though a stiff or strongly run two miles is his optimum trip. Whether his technique could withstand dropping in trip for a faster-paced race is another thing entirely. This was his first start for more than four months, however, and he may yet sharpen up.

This ground should have suited Ami Desbois but he jumped right, occasionally big, made mistakes and was eventually pulled up.

Later that same day at Cheltenham, Ballyhill won the Grade Three handicap chase that trainer Twiston-Davies has previously taken with Double Ross and Splash Of Ginge. Both horses went on to contest the JLT, with the former hitting the frame, so it must be highly likely this horse will head down the same route.

This was a good performance against more seasoned and quite useful – if rather exposed – rivals. He’d previously finished adrift of both Sceau Royal and North Hill Harvey but the step up to 2m4f seems to have reaped some improvement. He also handles a sound surface.

Of course, stabled where he is, we get to see him again before the Festival: he heads to Trials Day at Cheltenham at the end of this month. He needs to show then that he’s still improving because he’s got something to find in order to figure in the JLT.

Less than an hour later over at Punchestown, Sutton Place made a winning chase debut despite being repeatedly out-jumped by the eventual second, Kemboy. However, the scopier winner was always going that bit better and it was ultimately a rather comfortable success.

Trainer Gordon Elliott asserted that the winner was “a bit novice early on”, adding: “He never really does anything that impressively – he just does what he has to.”

In the past, that has included a comfortable defeat of Supasundae (over two miles) but Sutton Place’s track record also reveals that he has twice been withdrawn from races on a sound surface. That would make you wary of any spring target. Therefore 20/1 for the RSA is not even faintly tempting.

Last season Kemboy shaped as though three miles would ultimately suit and here he impressed with the calibre of his jumping prior to plunging through the penultimate flight and then getting out-speeded by Sutton Place.

He might also have needed the run on his first start since April – although the same logic applied to the winner, who actually pulled up lame in a Punchestown Grade One.

Kemboy ran well when a relatively inexperienced fifth in last year’s Neptune (Ballymore) and is a horse to keep in mind for the Festival, subject to what he does next.

On New Year’s Eve, Le Rocher maintained his unbeaten record on his second start over fences but could hardly be termed impressive when made to work as the 1/10 favourite against a rival rated 55lbs inferior.

It was admittedly a messy three-runner affair but the heavy ground should have suited the winner and his jumping let him down repeatedly. It was just his superior class that got him home by what reads like a comfortable margin in the end but was actually anything but for much of the race.

“Le Rocher has the engine but he wasn’t looking a 1-10 shot two out, was he?” admitted trainer Nick Williams. “There’ll be more to come but at least he’s had two races and two wins in just over a week. I think we’ll give him a gap now, maybe three or four weeks, and I think we’ll go 2m4f next time.

“It’s possible he’s a Festival horse at 2mf in the JLT. Maybe we’ll go somewhere quiet next time but maybe he is ready for a higher grade.”

Le Rocher was a Grade One-winning juvenile hurdler for Williams but later missed almost three years due to “problems with his legs”. He’d finished alone on his chase debut at Exeter previously so his current level of form is difficult to assess, except to say it isn’t JLT class. His preference for testing conditions would also temper enthusiasm for that target.

Hopefully Sarah-Jayne Davies, the trainer of runner-up Royal Act, will find a handicap target for her charge because on this showing he appears a very well treated horse and perhaps vastly better over fences than hurdles – even if he was probably flattered to some degree. He mostly jumped well and looked quite scopey on TV viewing.

At Newbury the preceding day, Saint Calvados made an impressive start to his British career for trainer Harry Whittington when jumping well under a positive ride to beat the more experienced and likeably persistent favourite, Remiluc.

This was a highly assured performance from the winner on his chase debut, seemingly making light of an opening mark of 143. The time stood out in the conditions.

“Saint Calvados is always in second gear at home and has been a natural when we schooled him at home,” said Whittington. “He cruised on that ground but I don’t know enough to say if he needs it. He’s always going to be good on it, though.”

If the horse’s knee action is anything to go by – and it isn’t always – then testing conditions may well be a requirement. However, rider Aidan Coleman was thinking of striking while the ground is deep and suggested the Grade One Scilly Isles over 2m4f at Sandown next month as a viable option. “We’ll let the dust settle,” responded Whittington.

In other news, Elliott has reported that Death Duty is “a bit sore” after falling in the race won so authoritatively by Footpad at Leopardstown. “There are no plans,” he added, unnervingly.

Alan King thinks Mia’s Storm “didn’t go on the ground” when making a series of errors and eventually falling in Kempton’s Grade One Kauto Star won by Black Corton.

“It was always a risk in a Grade One to try to make her run on it,” King said. “She hit a few and just couldn’t pick her feet up on that ground. She is fine at home and we will now freshen her up and wait for the better ground in the spring with her.”

The problem with this theory is that it was no worse than good-to-soft ground at Kempton on Boxing Day, so I’d suggest the mare’s mistakes were more connected with the speed she was being asked to jump in a hard-run race of that standard.

On that same day at Kempton, you may recall that Hell’s Kitchen clocked a startlingly good time compared with King George victor Might Bite. In my last column, I suggested “anything less than a double-figure rise would be handy”. He’s been raised just 7lbs and so would be a good thing next time in a handicap – if you can rely on him not to lose his head as he has in the past.

Novice hurdlers

The gloriously tough Poetic Rhythm made it from veterinary hospital to the winner’s enclosure for Newbury’s Challow Hurdle within the space of three weeks last Saturday. A little setback like colic isn’t going to deter a horse like him from capturing trainer Fergal O’Brien his first Grade One success.

As it turned out, the winner needed all of his grit for the task because this was an attritional affair staged on sapping ground and made all the more difficult by the enterprising tactics employed by Adrian Heskin on rallying runner-up Mulcahys Hill.

On exiting the back straight, Heskin wound up the pace on his striking dual white-socked mount and had established a six-length advantage over his closest pursuer turning for home. Poetic Rhythm had already been typically niggled along at this stage but just as typically was finding plenty.

The two principals then also initially raced on opposite sides of the track in the straight, the winner keeping towards the inside and the runner-up heading for the stands’ rail.

Poetic Rhythm made inroads on the lead as quickly as the third last but it then took him until the final hurdle, rider Paddy Brennan having brought him across to eyeball his surprisingly resilient rival, to get upsides.

Even then, Mulcahys Hill was not done with because having gone a length down, he responded to Heskin’s urgings to such a degree as to force a photo on the line. The verdict was merely a short head’s worth in what was a superbly exciting race to watch.

“When the chips are down, you want George [Poetic Rhythm’s stable name] on your side. Poetic Rhythm is just so tough and I thought Adrian rode a great race on the second horse. He put everyone to the sword but we had the right horse and jockey on our side and they really dug deep,” O’Brien said.

“He’s pulled it out od the bag and three weeks ago he was at the vet’s with colic! I think we’ll got straight to Cheltenham for the Albert Bartlett and he’ll have a little break now. He’ll be better on better ground but you can see how tough he is as Paddy was niggling and niggling him down the back.”

This is Poetic Rhythm’s second season as a novice hurdler and he’s been relatively highly tried throughout his short career to date. He had already demonstrated that he’s an improved model this term via a Grade Two Chepstow success and an excellent weight-conceding third to this column’s Ballymore selection On The Blind Side at Cheltenham in November.

I had hoped he’d run in the Albert Bartlett last term, certain he’d improve for three miles, but instead he tried his hand in the Ballymore, finishing tailed off at 66/1 after being badly hampered at the fifth. In hindsight, the longer race is probably a far more suitable target only now because it demands experience of the extent boasted by Poetic Rhythm – and more.

If O’Brien sticks to his plan, the Potato Race will be this horse’s eighth start over hurdles – the same number as last year’s winner Penhill, who also raced extensively on the Flat, and seven fewer than Unowhatimeanharry when he took this contest in 2016. But he’ll still have had far more critical practice than most rivals he’ll face in March.

It’s also good news, given how arduous this Newbury race was, that O’Brien plans to head straight to Cheltenham. So having gained one fresh accolade for his trainer, Poetic Rhythm has a serious chance of gaining him another: namely, his first Festival triumph. Let’s join in the fun and back this ideal type for the race each-way at 25/1.

Exclusive Price Boost: Poetic Rhythm 28/1 for Albert Bartlett

Mulcahys Hill also emerges from this race no doubt exhausted but with great credit. He was advantageously ridden but still revealed plenty of ability, stamina and willpower. Yes, he flashed his tail repeatedly under pressure in the straight but perhaps only for emphasis because he was clearly giving everything he’d got to Heskin.

He’s more lightly raced than the winner and could therefore be over-faced by the Albert Bartlett at this stage in his promising career. He’s also once been declared a non-runner on good-to-soft ground and trainer Warren Greatrex asserted after this effort that “the ground is always imperative to him and he wouldn’t run anywhere on good ground”.

Third-placed Kilbricken Storm was outpaced when Mulcahys Hill pressed for home but initially responded to pressure before tiring to finish 23 lengths behind the leading duo. Free-going mare Dame Rose may not have enjoyed being taken on for the lead.

Earlier on the same day at Newbury, First Flow maintained his unbeaten record over hurdles with an impressive 20-length success in the introductory hurdle.

Having led under sufferance after finding that none of his rivals wanted to set off when the tapes went back for the start, David Bass ended up setting a fair pace and his mount won unchallenged in a good time. First Flow jumped well – as he should do in that context – if not entirely fluent at the second last.

Trainer Kim Bailey has no hi-falutin plans for a horse he described as “having no breeding” – but was recognised as having ability by Bass from the moment he rode him in work. Testing ground is deemed important.

Seemingly talking of mudlarks, Waterlord made light of bottomless stuff at Haydock when winning the NH novices’ hurdle by 15 lengths last Saturday. Granted, he was gifted four lengths at the start, controlled the race from the front under a well-judged ride from Will Kennedy and several of his rivals surely underperformed in such singular conditions, but this was nonetheless a good effort according to the clock.

Given he’s by Cape Cross, you actually wouldn’t expect heavy ground to be his bag so he could well be effective on a sound surface. Trainer Donald McCain’s certainly expects him to be. “We weren’t sure about the ground but we wanted to bring him back for the [Grade Two novices’ hurdle] Rossington Main next month and that’s where we’ll go,” he said.

At Cheltenham on New Year’s Day, Tikkanbar won the opening novices’ hurdle despite failing to jump with much fluency. He’d been gifted a two-length lead at the start and was mostly unhassled at his hurdles until late on, so there was little excuse for it.

That said, he’s also got plenty of talent because he wasn’t even asked to exert himself until opening the door to vulnerability via a typically untidy jump at the last. Eventual runner-up Ainchea was also careless there, offering third-placed Springtown Lake a brief whiff of hope when switched left around the leaders.

To his credit, Tikkanbar then immediately found for pressure when asked by rider Noel Fehily and was always holding Ainchea, the pair again pulling away from Springtown Lake up the final hill.

The winner is seven years of age and so a late-developer but he is progressing with each start. He will need to improve his jumping if moving up in grade but trainer Neil Mulholland offered some hope on that front.

“Tikkanbar stays, gallops and like the ground,” he said. “His jumping will hopefully get better with time and is a lot better than it was. He doesn’t need this ground and he doesn’t have to make the running but it’s working at the moment. If you lined him up in a better race, you could drop him in.”

This was only five-year-old Ainchea’s third start and his second over hurdles. He is very much going the right way and could prove decent. Springtown Lake – beaten nine lengths by On The Blind Side on his previous start – was palpably below his best here, possibly due to the testing ground. He’s got a great attitude, though.

Finally in terms of action from the New Year period, I must mention Maria’s Benefit who turned a Taunton mares’ novices’ Listed event into an utter procession last Saturday. Official handicapper David Dickinson has given her a whopping rating of 152, which he explained in the Handicapper’s Blog on the British Horseracing Authority website.

“The overall time compared with the handicap on the card won by Attest suggests a rating in the 140s but the split times make for very interesting reading,” Dickinson wrote.

“Maria’s Benefit was marginally slower to the second hurdle than Rio Bravo [who made the running in the handicap]. By the time she jumped the same flight, then the third last, she was over six seconds faster than the handicap. This was a blistering burst, particularly in the back straight, and she is clearly very good.”

She’s now 7/1 for the Trull House Stud Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at the Festival, having been backed in recent days. Trainer Stuart Edmonds confirmed that to be her target, via Doncaster. “She has just improved all the while,” he said. “I was a bit worried about the ground but needn’t have worried… When I walked it I found it to be good-to-soft down the far side… She is not one-dimensional.”

The postscript to this section is that water-walker Samcro misses his intended engagement at Naas this coming Sunday due to an “ordinary” scope. Eddie O’Leary, racing manager to owners Gigginstown House Stud, added that he hopes the horse will run at the Dublin Festival at Leopardstown next month.

Juvenile hurdlers

Nayati made a winning UK debut for new trainer Alan King at Newbury last Saturday. His jumping lost its fluency in the middle part of the race and he got shuffled back, but he worked his way back to challenge readily at the second last.

On hitting the front he hung fire, however, and jockey Wayne Hutchinson wisely switched him to the stands’ rail to help him home. Both that and the good jump he secured at the last were necessary because the scopier Kapdad harried him until weakening near the line.

“He wasn’t doing an awful lot in front,” said Hutchinson. “That’s inexperience. I was pleased with the way he settled and he knuckled down well. He’s gone through [the race] with ease even if on paper you wouldn’t say it was the strongest event.”

The winner ran only twice on the Flat, staying 1m7f, in France so, as trainer Alan King said, he has “plenty to learn”. A background light on experience is no longer the bar to Triumph success that it once was but Nayati must improve markedly to be considered in that category. More realistically at this stage, he’s a 25/1 shot for the Fred Winter.

From runner-up Kapdad, 12 lengths clear of the third, this was a highly encouraging hurdles debut.

Up at Musselburgh on New Year’s Day, the horse that glories in the name Uptown Funk ran down favourite Je Suis Charlie late on in the juvenile hurdle. The waited-with runner-up was bumped twice by the rolling-around winner approaching the second last and seemed to have his measure approaching the last but ultimately appeared outstayed.

The winner is the type of horse trainer Keith Dalgleish has managed to harness in the past: an ex-Flat recruit with a strong streak of individuality. Uptown Funk never quite realised his potential as a staying handicapper for John Gosden and that was almost certainly his own fault. Headgear helped only briefly and he failed to get off the mark in eight starts.

A heavier – jumps rather than Flat – jockey to boss him will have helped, as will a sterner test of stamina. So this was an encouraging debut if he continues to go the right way. The runner-up had already had a run over hurdles and, much as in his Flat career, failed to build here.

Finally, at Punchestown on New Year’s Eve two debutants fought out the finish to the juvenile hurdle with Veneer Of Charm pulling away from Les Arceaux as the line approached.

The winner had travelled comfortably and mostly jumped soundly, albeit guessing at one, but Davy Russell had to get serious with him after jumping into a narrow lead at the last. Both horses stayed on strongly but Veneer Of Charm was always holding Les Arceaux.

Selections:

Advised 30/11/17: Min 8/1 Champion Chase with Paddy Power/Betfair
Advised 06/12/17: Supasundae 20/1 Stayers’ Hurdle with Bet365 and Paddy Power/Betfair
Advised 06/12/17: Mengli Khan 15/2 for the Supreme with Betfair
Advised 13/12/17: On The Blind Side 10/1 each-way for the Ballymore with various firms
Advised 31/12/17: Let’s Dance 12/1 each-way for the OLBG Mares’ Hurdle with William Hill
Advised 31/12/17: Presenting Percy 8/1 with BetVictor, BetFred, Boylesports or Stan James to win the RSA Chase
Back now: Apple’s Jade at 100/30 for the Stayers’ Hurdle with Betfair Sportsbook or 3/1 with Paddy Power or Bet365 (Click here for exclusive NR/NB Price Boost: 4/1 Sky Bet)
Back now: Poetic Rhythm each-way at 25/1 for the Albert Bartlett with William Hill, Paddy Power of Betfair Sportsbook (Click here for exclusive Price Boost: 28/1 Sky Bet)