Friday Talking Points: Last chance saloon
Ben Linfoot and Dave Ord provide Friday's talking points from Exeter, where likely types from Nicky Henderson's and Paul Nicholls' are under the microscope.
1. Boyhood bids for Pertemps place
There isn't much time left in the race to get qualified for the Pertemps Final at Cheltenham.
Friday's qualifier at Exeter is one of the final chances, swiftly followed by Chepstow's race on Saturday, and a few likely types will be jostling for position in a bid for a place at the Festival.
You probably need to be rated at least 135 to get in the Final these days, so horses like Bailarico, Flemcara and Divin Bere are right on the cusp and could really do with going up a bit in the weights as well as getting qualified if possible.
But the one that stands out is Tom George's Boyhood.
He showed his liking for Cheltenham when winning a handicap hurdle over three miles there easily on New Year's Day 2018, romping home despite hanging to his left.
Off a 13lb higher mark he acquitted himself well at the same track in November, his only subsequent start since that Pertemps Final course and distance win, where he finished second to First Assignment.
He's sparsely raced, then, but his record at Cheltenham is a good one and a mark of 143 guarantees him a place in the Final - if he can qualify by finishing in the first six at Exeter.
His consistency suggests he will. And considering his runs at Cheltenham, he could well become a player for the Final itself. (Ben Linfoot)
2. Exciting Epatante takes centre stage
We’re entering the Last Chance Saloon as far as Cheltenham clues go but there’s potentially a significant one on offer in the Visit Exeter Mares' Novices' Hurdle.
This is the race Nicky Henderson has chosen to put the finishing touches to Epatante’s Festival preparations and if the vibes from Seven Barrows on Monday are anything to go by, she’s a major player at Prestbury Park.
The case for JP McManus’ other rising stars based with the champion trainer was easy to make – Champ a worthy favourite for the Ballymore and Birchdale bound for the Albert Barlett to keep the two apart. He is held in very high regard.
But there was a glint in Henderson’s eye when he spoke about Epatante, turning away from the camera at the end of our interview muttering “she’s smart, she’s very smart.”
It was a combination of a brilliant piece of work at the weekend – and her effortless win at Kempton on her British debut - that convinced the trainer of her Trull House Stud Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle credentials.
There’ll be many a long face at Martinstown and in Lambourn if she fails to deliver at Exeter before returning to Grade One company next month. After all she won a bumper at that level at Saint-Cloud in her native France.
She could be the real deal. (Dave Ord)
3. Nicholls goes Network-ing
Network's stock as a National Hunt sire sky-rocketed following the career of Sprinter Sacre and we're bound to feel his presence at the Cheltenham Festival in a few weeks' time.
Top novice chasers like Le Richebourg and Delta Work will be flying the flag for Network in the Arkle and RSA Chase respectively and it wouldn't be a surprise if one or both of those two came out of the Festival with gold medals.
I can't think of any Paul Nicholls-trained progeny of Network and a little dig around hasn't come up with anything, either, but he unleashes a son of the German sire at Exeter on Friday in the shape of Accomplice who goes in the GG Tips 'National Hunt' Novices' Hurdle at 3.10.
Trained by Augustin Adeline De Boisbrunet in France, Accomplice had one run for his first trainer and it was a ready success at Fontainebleau with a much better-fancied stablemate finishing second.
Nicholls ran a similar type in this race in 2015 when Qualando landed the odds before winning the Fred Winter at Cheltenham three weeks later.
That won't be happening with the five-year-old Accomplice, a once-raced horse with no Cheltenham entries, but he looks a likely type on paper and it will be interesting to see how he performs on his British debut. (Ben Linfoot)
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