Entire Cheltenham Festival On Racing UK Budbrooke Handicap Chase

Off time: 15:30 | Winning time: 5m 20.20s

Knockgraffon^p,t²⁰

Age: 8| Weight: 11-12| J: B S Hughes| T: O Murphy| OR: 144| D

6/1

Scored under this rider at Musselburgh and conditions were probably too testing last time. Enters calculations in a race where few of his rivals arrive in the best of form.

Form: 25-451F

Bishops Road^b1²⁰

Age: 10| Weight: 11-12| J: J E Moore| T: Kerry Lee| OR: 144| D

7/1

Fancied for last month's Welsh National on the back of solid second to Beware The Bear in Newcastle's Listed Rehearsal Chase in December. Pulled up at Chepstow and poor again last time. Blinkers applied here, but trip looks too sharp.

Form: 03P-2P7

Dell' Arca^b,t¹⁵

Age: 9| Weight: 11-8| J: David Noonan| T: D Pipe| OR: 140| D

14/1

Better handicapped over fences than hurdles at present and showed he retains ability with a 6L Newbury victory in November. Highly tried off his revised mark since and has forecast conditions to suit with his stable in better form lately.

Form: 441P75

Kayf Adventure²²

Age: 7| Weight: 11-7| J: M G Nolan| T: P Hobbs & J White| OR: 139| BF| C| D

4/1

One of the few from this yard to run to form in the past few weeks. Beat Knockgraffon 19L in a bumper here three years ago on heavy ground and he seems ideally suited to more testing conditions than are forecast here.

Form: 2-16312

Cobra De Mai^p,t¹¹¹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-1| J: Harry Skelton| T: D Skelton| OR: 133| CWS

4/1

Won 4-5 between May-October 2017, all on good/fast ground and three of those over fences. Off since November and returns after wind surgery. Yet to prove he stays this far on a soft surface and others preferred as a result.

Form: 11P154

Calipto⁷⁷

Age: 8| Weight: 10-13| J: S Bowen| T: Miss V Williams| OR: 131

3/1

Quite useful when trained by Paul Nicholls, but has not hit the same level of form for current handler despite showing signs of his old ability on more than one occasion. Has dropped to a lenient mark and would be dangerous if returning to form.

Form: 38/6F-55

Drumlee Sunset^t1²⁷

Age: 8| Weight: 10-13| J: C Gethings| T: T R George| OR: 131| C

7/1

Winner here over hurdles for Philip Hobbs and has gradually come down the weights over he past year. Claims on his best form but his jumping has been letting him down along with a reluctance to settle. A tongue-tie is tried and could help.

Form: 222P-29

Forecasts

Calipto (3/1), Cobra De Mai (4/1), Kayf Adventure (4/1), Knockgraffon (6/1), Drumlee Sunset (7/1), Bishops Road (7/1), Dell' Arca (14/1)

Knockgraffon will appreciate the better ground on offer and arrives in better shape than most having scored under this rider at Musselburgh in similar company. Kayf Adventure has been holding his form well but has paid the price with his handicap mark. Calipto and Drumlee Sunset would have to enter calculations off their falling marks if the market vibes were positive, but DELL' ARCA returns to chasing for the first time in over two years and having scored off this mark over hurdles in November. The nine-year-old is another who will be helped by the better conditions and the improved form of the stable is a further positive.