ITV Racing presenter Oli Bell previews Cheltenham's November Meeting
ITV Racing presenter Oli Bell previews Cheltenham's November Meeting, with Slate House and Finian's Oscar set to star for Colin Tizzard.
Festival stars both old and no doubt new battle for top billing at Cheltenham this weekend in what promises to be a thrilling three days of racing.
The November Meeting boasts a wealth of exciting talent and with lots of the March showpiece’s big names traditionally announcing their arrival on the scene with success at this meeting, there should be clues on offer throughout.
We’ll bring you live action every day on ITV, with Friday’s coverage getting underway at 1.30pm on ITV4.
Legendary jockey Sir AP McCoy - who of course has a statue in his honour at Cheltenham - will be our special guest on Saturday’s The Opening Show from 9.30am, again on ITV4, before racing starts on the main channel at 1.30pm.
We then return to ITV4 on Sunday to wrap up a fantastic weekend from 1.30pm.
Take a look at who I’m keeping a particularly close eye on at the November Meeting.
Friday, 2.25 - Steele Plate And Sections Novices’ Chase
Finian’s Oscar is the horse plenty of racing fans are looking forward to seeing at Cheltenham and with the desperately sad news this week of the passing of owner Alan Potts it would be fitting to see the famous yellow and green silks carried to victory this weekend.
The Colin Tizzard-trained five-year-old looked pretty good to me on his chase debut at Chepstow and showed from his hurdling that he’s a serious horse. I think he will win on Friday.
He strikes me as more of a JLT than Arkle type and that’s why he will be seen in this race, over just beyond 2m4f, rather than Sunday’s Arkle Trial.
Finian’s Oscar is a very talented animal and one of the most exciting that we will see over the course of the next three days.
Friday, 3.35 - Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle
Nicky Henderson’s On The Blind Side looks interesting, winning at Aintree on debut last month having won a point-to-point.
He was an expensive purchase and was made to work pretty hard by 80/1 shot Another Stowaway for that victory at the end of October.
But he strikes me as a horse with plenty of ability over staying trips and I think he’s one to follow as perhaps an Albert Bartlett prospect for March.
This is a good race with plenty on offer. The likes of Poetic Rhythm, who I know is highly-regarded at Fergal O’Brien’s yard, and Tizzard's Vision Des Flos also catch the eye in what should be a competitive renewal.
Saturday, 2.25 - BetVictor Gold Cup Handicap Chase
I like Ballyalton for the meeting’s big race. He’s a former Festival winner, having beaten Bouvreuil by half a length in 2016’s Close Brothers Novices’ Handicap Chase and is off an appealing mark of 143 here.
Ian Williams’ horses are flying right now and I think the race will be run in a way that will suit the ten-year-old.
In what looks a particularly close contest, he ticks a lot of boxes and I think he actually represents a bit of value.
I don’t necessarily like tipping horses like this next one, but in Le Prezien we have a six-year-old that has bags of talent.
If you look at his run at Cheltenham during last month’s meeting, he wasn’t brilliant over his fences early on and kept losing ground.
For him to have travelled into the race as well as he did and ultimately look like winning before being beaten by a neck by Foxtail Hill I think is great credit to the horse’s ability and shows he’s more than capable of winning a handicap like this.
A question mark remains over his jumping early on - which needs to be better right from the start on Saturday - while there's also some doubt as to whether he can be relied on to put everything in at the finish.
I would still have my reservations over Le Prezien, but the way he travels is a big asset in what should be a fiercely-run contest and perhaps this time he will see it out up the hill for a yard whose record in the race is excellent.
Sunday, 2.25 - Shloer Chase
I was at Wincanton last weekend where Fox Norton had a racecourse gallop. He looked full of himself, fresh and in fantastic nick.
Fox Norton is a key horse in that two-mile championship class, especially with the news this week of Altior’s wind issue and Douvan yet to return from the season-ending injury he sustained here in March.
Some of the trainers and indeed horses in this division may be licking their lips and having seen Fox Norton at Wincanton I wouldn’t stop anyone from backing him first time up.
His work will have got some of that freshness out of him, sharpened him up and made him ready to go this weekend.
Sunday, 3.00 - Unibet Greatwood Handicap Hurdle
Jenkins’ jumping was a bit of a concern to me last year, with the five-year-old making a few errors and not really building on his bumper potential.
I’m sure Nicky Henderson will have ironed out those problems but going straight into a Greatwood coming out of a novice season is tough for any horse.
If Jenkins makes a mistake, this isn’t one of those races he will be able to get back into easily. Make one or two blunders in a fast-and-furious handicap hurdle over two miles here and you’re always on the back foot.
Because of the doubts over his jumping I think he’s too short in the betting. He’s undoubtedly a good horse but I would look elsewhere and I think there’s value to be had.
At a big price I like Chesterfield.
He’s won over course and distance and he also won on his last two starts in April at Aintree and Ayr respectively.
On both occasions he was ridden by Daniel Sansom, who takes off a valuable 7lb and knows the horse well.
Chesterfield has gone well at Cheltenham in the past, winning a 19-runner novices’ handicap hurdle in 2014 when trained by John Ferguson.
He’s got that big-field experience and has proven he can handle the hustle and bustle at the home of jumps racing.
It’s his first run of the season so we don’t know quite what form he will be in, but at Ayr he beat Zubayr, which is rock solid form. Chesterfield’s improving might not be done yet and I think he’s a big player.
Sunday, 3.30 - Sky Bet Supreme Trial Novices’ Hurdle
This race is a great opportunity to hopefully see something special and get excited about the curtain-raiser at next year’s Festival.
Slate House was mightily impressive in winning October’s Maiden Hurdle at Cheltenham and could be well worth the wait to see in this weekend’s penultimate race.
The five-year-old commanded a big price-tag on the back of a massive reputation earned in the point field and is highly thought of by connections.
This horse is part-owned by John Romans, whose celebrations memorably lit up Aintree’s winners’ enclosure following Ultragold’s triumph over the National fences in April.
It would be no surprise to see him jubilant again on Sunday, this time alongside fellow owners Eric Jones and Geoff Nicholas, capping what has the potential to be a fine few days for Team Tizzard.
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