Festival Fever: The Key Weekend Runners with Cheltenham Festival in mind

Sunday: Ones to watch

Envoi Allen (1.20 Punchestown)

While all of his home-trained rivals cool down from Christmas and limber up for another almighty clash at the Dublin Racing Festival in February, Envoi Allen is plotting a rather less taxing course.

A few eyebrows were raised when trainer Gordon Elliott nominated a Grade Two next after his new stable star had walked away with Grade One honours in the Drinmore at Fairyhouse in late-November, but it does make a lot of sense with potentially big runs at Cheltenham, Aintree and Punchestown to come in the spring.

Envoi Allen is a rare talent, yet to be beaten in 10 starts under Rules, on top of his sole point success, and he looks to have the chasing world at his feet.

Messire Des Obeaux and Shan Blue may be waiting in the wings for Cheveley Park's ace at the Festival in March, but there's little doubt who the best novice is at the time of writing and it's going to take something extraordinary to knock him off his perch at this stage.

Dreal Deal (2.50 Punchestown)

The Sky Bet Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle has proved to be one of the most informative races of its type over the years. Won – as you’ve most likely guessed already – by Moscow Flyer en route to greatness back in 2000, he’s been followed into the winners’ circle by the likes of Brave Inca, Hurricane Fly, Faugheen, Douvan and another subsequent Cheltenham winner Klassical Dream in 2019.

It’s very difficult to know what could be lurking among this year’s line-up, with Ganapathi an obvious improver for trainer Willie Mullins, who has such a strong record in the race.

But Dreal Deal has very much looked the real deal for his trainer Ronan McNally, racking up three straight hurdle victories and squeezing in a couple of Flat victories along the way for good measure.

Quite whether he’s up to this level is another matter entirely but the layers don’t seem to be taking any chances and that makes sense given he’s a thriving six-year-old with seemingly a whole lot more to give.

Saturday: Ones to watch

Sky Pirate (1.15 Warwick)

Result: 1st

Sky Pirate has been given an interesting-looking entry in the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury but returning to action this weekend might effectively close that option and rubber-stamp connections’ intentions to target the Grand Annual at Cheltenham.

It’s taken Jonjo O’Neill and the team a little bit of time to discover how best to utilise the talented – if quirky – eight-year-old, but he barely turned a hair when winning on the drop back to two miles at Cheltenham’s International fixture last month and an 11lb rise really doesn’t look too harsh, given just how well he cruised through the race.

Next Destination (1.50 Warwick)

Result: 1st

Formerly trained by Willie Mullins and now in the care of Paul Nicholls, Next Destination has kept just about the best company imaginable and he was third to Samcro in the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival back in 2018.

He went on to win the big one at the Punchestown Festival over three miles the following month and despite spending a long time on the sidelines after that neck defeat of Delta Work, he’s resumed in fine order this season.

The now nine-year-old bumped into an on-song Roksana at Wetherby before making his eagerly-awaited chasing debut at Newbury and the way he took apart a Grade Two field first time out over fences could hardly been more impressive.

His form entitles him to go a long way in this sphere and if he’s able to find any improvement at all then he’ll be well up to this task before a crack at the Festival Novices’ Chase itself.

Fiddlerontheroof (1.50 Warwick)

Result: 2nd

If Next Destination takes a step backwards then don’t forget Colin Tizzard’s Fiddlerontheroof, who is an interesting prospect in his own right moving up to three miles for the first time.

We were reminded last weekend that small-field novice chases can throw up the odd upset (Protektorat beaten when odds-on for the Dipper) and Fiddlerontheroof should, in theory have the raw pace to at least give the favourite a race.

He’s not done a huge amount wrong in four starts over fences this season and he’ll enjoy getting his toe into the ground. Stable form could be a slight worry, but you’re likely to be getting a fair price about him turning over the Nicholls hot-pot in this three-runner Grade Two.

Chatham Street Lad (2.15 Fairyhouse)

Result: 3rd

With half the field out of the weights thanks to himself and Festival hero Chosen Mate lining up, Chatham Street Lad looks potentially well placed here, especially given his other weekend option was to tackle Envoi Allen over two and a half miles at Punchestown on Sunday.

Mick Winters' nine-year-old spreadeagled the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup at Cheltenham last month, eventually winning by 15 lengths as he liked.

The Irish assessor has stepped in with a 10lb hike, which looks perfectly reasonable on the face of it, and if the horse proves to be just as effective over this shorter trip in such warm company then it will clearly open up more possible routes when it comes to targets in mid-March.

Make Me A Believer (2.25 Warwick)

Result: 3rd

David Pipe has returned to the top table of National Hunt racing with a recent Grade One success in the Finale Juvenile Hurdle at Chepstow and he has other promising types in the yard who could yet propel the Pond House resurgence further.

Step forward Make Me A Believer, a well-made son of Presenting who showed guts to match his raw ability when beating Any News to win at Cheltenham in December.

Stamina absolutely won him the day on the testing ground there and it would be quite surprising were he not able to take another move forward now back up in distance.

His form throughout his career stacks up pretty well including a neck defeat of Everglow in a bumper in October 2019, and this race is likely to tell Pipe and co whether to target the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle, the Sky Bet Supreme, or even the Albert Bartlett over three miles.

Storm Control (3.00 Warwick)

Result: PU

The McCoy Contractors Civil Engineering Classic Handicap Chase has had more of a bearing on the Grand National Festival than Cheltenham in recent years, especially thanks to One For Arthur who completed the double, and that could clearly be the case again this time around.

However, with two Cheltenham wins to his name already this term, Storm Control is likely to be prepared with March in mind.

Kerry Lee’s charge has inevitably gone up in the weights – to the tune of 11lb in total – but he appeared to be holding Potters Legend quite cosily last time, despite the official margin reading only a length.

He’s unproven over this three miles, five furlongs but everything about him suggests he’ll get the new trip standing on his head and that’s quite impressive for a horse being campaigned over the minimum distance only last spring.

Lee knows the time of day with her staying chasers and his sound jumping should keep him in the hunt here in what is a typically tough examination in the fencing department.

Grangee (3.15 Market Rasen)

Result: 3rd

Willie Mullins rather enjoyed sending his very first runner to Market Rasen last January - Panic Attack winning this very race before being sold for big money and joining the David Pipe yard.

Nico de Boinville has been drafted in to partner this year's raider, the Galway bumper winner Grangee, who justified 5/4 favouritism with a bloodless, six and a half length romp on her debut towards the end of October.

She appeared to have lots of natural speed there, something which should stand her in good stead around this course, and while the form could have worked out a whole lot better - no winners from 21 subsequent starters in total - she was evidently in a league of her own.

The Weatherbys Champion Bumper (33/1 at the time of writing) could well be calling if all goes swimmingly on Saturday.

Potters Corner (3.35 Warwick)

Result: 7th

The link between these Pertemps qualifiers and the Cheltenham Festival is fairly self-explanatory – horses placing in the first six in any of the races in the series throughout the season book their place in March’s grand Final.

Tobefair, a previous winner of this event who went on to be second in a Pertemps Final (2019) and sixth in last year’s Stayers’ Hurdle, is back for another bite at the cherry, but attention is more likely to fall on Potters Corner, who trainer Christian Williams is said to be aiming at Cheltenham’s Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase.

The horse – who won last season’s Welsh National before going on to follow up in the televised Virtual one at Aintree, made a pleasing start to his campaign when staying on for third over the banks course at Cheltenham in November and it looks significant he preps for the Festival back over hurdles here.

Connections are also clearly hoping to protect his current chase mark (150) too but he really ought to be seriously competitive competing from just 132 over the smaller obstacles in a race which should be run to suit.

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