November Meeting: Five to follow including Paddy Power Gold Cup third Torneo

Form not to take at face value

Friday’s two miles and five furlong novices’ hurdle has been won by some cracking horses down the years, with On The Blind Side, Thyme Hill, Hermes Allen, Potters Charm and No Drama This End on the roll of honour in the past decade.

It's not just the winners you want to keep track of, Captain Teague having been beaten into second by Minella Missile three years ago, and if was another future top-class prospect lurking among this year’s field it’s probably the four-year-old Ferocimo who was beaten just a length and a half in third.

From the same stable as Potters Charm, who won the Grade 1 Formby at Aintree on his next outing after scoring here in 2024, Ferocimo won’t be dropping in trip any time soon and looks a really nice stayer in the making.

Fast ground and the two hurdles in the home straight being dolled off can’t have helped Nigel and Willy Twiston-Davies’ charge but it was still a decent step forward from his wide-margin hurdling debut win at Fontwell on pure form terms and there’s plenty more to come when he gets some cut in the ground.

Don looks quirky but quality

Sean Bowen’s ability to allow horses to catch their breath on the downhill run at Cheltenham is quite remarkable and we often see him coming with a tremendous late thrust - Sony Bill on Sunday a prime example.

Sir Galahad arrived very late on the scene to somehow grab third in the three-mile handicap hurdle on Saturday, while earlier on the card it probably wasn't the plan with Don Dandy. I’m still not sure how this horse finished third having almost looked like he was about to be pulled-up at one point, detached as he was just three flights from the finish.

The experiment with cheekpieces might not be tried again but Olly Murphy’s French recruit has something about him, despite being turned over as 1/2 favourite on his UK debut at Market Rasen last month.

He seemed to cope well with testing conditions in France, where he won over hurdles at Compiegne and he’s certainly not one to be giving up on yet.

Torneo one to take from Saturday feature

A strong edition of the Paddy Power Gold Cup has been covered extensively elsewhere on site and Phil Turner’s Timeform Takeaway is typically thought-provoking.

He noted that Torneo’s effort in third “added further solidity to the form” and I’d go a step further and suggest he’s arguably the horse to take from the race along with the impressive winner who could have some big days ahead of him.

Torneo, still just a six-year-old like Meetmebythesea, had been put up 5lb for winning on his seasonal return at Ffos Las and fared admirably in the best race he’s ever contested.

Gavin Sheehan had him handy from the outset and his jumping held up well. He was staying on well right at the death to come five lengths clear of top-weight Matata in fourth and still has untapped potential at the trip having spent two seasons racing over two miles in the main.

Looking long-term with Larzac

Authoceltic took the two-mile Weatherite Air Conditioning Handicap Chase apart from the front under a bold Ciaran Gethings ride, for which Jane Williams' horse will get a real hammering from the assessor.

Only six rising seven, maybe he's improving at such a rate that he'll remain competitive but Faye Bramley's Larzac is a horse for the notebook as he jumped with aplomb as well.

He might have let down favourite-backers on the day but shaped with considerable promise in second under Harry Cobden, having won a maiden hurdle on his stable debut last month. He raced a bit too keenly and had to come from near the back of the field but made his ground very smoothly before not quite being able to latch onto the runaway winner.

Larzac failed to win in a handful of outings for Willie Mullins but he's a fascinating JP McManus project and looks just the type to be campaigned with spring handicaps in mind from this point on.

Let It be known

Pioneer Pete could be called the Greatwood winner a fair way from the finish - or before they even started according to jockey Jonjo Jr who kindly revealed on ITV Racing with his blood up moments after the event that "I really couldn't see him getting beat to be honest."

It appeared the cleaner the silks the better around Cheltenham on Sunday and Pioneer Pete enjoyed a lovely run out of all the muddy kick-back before shooting to the front two out and clearing away.

With that in mind, the effort of Let It Rain has to be marked up quite considerably. Dan Skelton's mare finished a well-held fourth but that doesn't tell the whole story as she'd raced keenly under restraint buried away near the back. She was switched wide after four out and looked likely to play a leading role when still seemingly on the bit approaching two from the finish.

Harry Skelton still looked confident turning in but the early exertions took their toll and the finishing effort just wasn't there. She'll have other days (over fences now according to the trainer) and Timeform are of the view that she's most effective on better ground so that's something to keep in mind too.

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