16:55 Cheltenham

Friday 4 May 2018

All16:5517:3018:0518:4019:1519:5020:25

Brian Babbage Memorial Open Hunters' Chase

Off time: 16:58 | Winning time: 3m 58.80s

Monsieur Gibraltar^t⁴⁰

Age: 7| Weight: 12-2| J: Lorcan Williams⁽³⁾| T: Mrs R Loxton| OR: 128| BF| D

7/4

Still on the premises when unseating four out at Ascot in a hunter chase last time out. Previous form in this sphere is good (penalised as a result), has little bit to prove at this trip, but definitely has the class.

Form: P1211U-

Mantou^p,t¹¹

Age: 7| Weight: 11-13| J: Mr Ed Glassonbury⁽³⁾| T: S Allwood| OR: 119| D

5/1

Back to winning ways at Sedgefield last time out in good style. He's penalised for that and returns to the track relatively quickly having had wind surgery, but can't be ruled out.

Form: 5/FPP61-

Azure Glamour^t1²⁶

Age: 9| Weight: 11-10| J: Mr James King| T: A B Leyshon

66/1

Some form in handicap hurdles in 2016, but pulled-up on his first start for almost two years in a point-to-point last time. Much more needed on stable debut.

Form: PP118/P-

Brave Jaq^h,t¹²

Age: 7| Weight: 11-10| J: J Martin⁽⁵⁾| T: R Potter| OR: 95

80/1

Only a bumper to his name so far, and recent form in hunter chases/point-to-points (mostly over further) mean he makes very little appeal in this event.

Form: 0PP/3PP-

Champione^t1⁷⁵

Age: 8| Weight: 11-10| J: Mr Nick Williams| T: J W TudorWS

20/1

First run in a chase under rules. Form over hurdles left plenty to be desired but has taken a step forward in point-to-points, and should improve on previous rules form here.

Form: 641/P21-

Curragh Hall^p,t¹¹

Age: 10| Weight: 11-10| J: Lily Pinchin⁽⁷⁾| T: L Humphrey| OR: 84| D

100/1

Almost exclusively poor form since joining this yard and very tough to see him getting involved in this with his mark dwarfed by those of the leading contenders.

Form: 6P66P8-

Dido¹²

Age: 8| Weight: 11-10| J: Mr D Peters⁽⁷⁾| T: D Peters

20/1

Not seen under rules for almost two years, but does have some form in point-to-points in the interim, and interesting to see how he gets on back in a hunter chase.

Form: 3216P1-

Extreme Appeal^b¹³

Age: 6| Weight: 11-10| J: Mr William Biddick| T: Miss Kelly Morgan

14/1

Impressive winner of an intermediate point-to-point last time out, this obviously tougher but he's young, going the right way, and has a good jockey for this type of race booked.

Form: U11/661-

Guiting Power⁵

Age: 7| Weight: 11-10| J: Mr S A Morgan⁽⁷⁾| T: Mrs Alice Campbell

100/1

Still a maiden in all forms of racing and has finished down the field more often than not. Difficult to make a case for.

Form: 5PP55F

Loughaderra Prince⁹⁵

Age: 9| Weight: 11-10| J: Mr N George⁽³⁾| T: T R George| OR: 115

5/1

Only a handful of runs in the past couple of years, but this is potentially easier than the Hereford event he was fifth in last time, and he's in good hands with this yard.

Form: 14440/5-

Mr Sawyer²⁶

Age: 9| Weight: 11-10| J: Mr Bradley Gibbs⁽³⁾| T: K Jacka| OR: 90

66/1

Not the most consistent and 0-6 in chases under rules, and badly needs to improve on recent performances to challenge the leading contenders in this.

Form: P55P2P-

Old Pride^h²⁷

Age: 10| Weight: 11-10| J: Alex Edwards| T: Mrs D Ralph| OR: 106| D

6/1

Recent good form in point-to-points but this requires a step forward. This shorter trip probably not ideal and he has something to find with the principles on ratings.

Form: 3F211/1-

Sadma²⁶

Age: 9| Weight: 11-10| J: Pte Alexandra Bell⁽⁷⁾| T: N Lampard| OR: 95| D

66/1

Dual winner over hurdles in 2015 and has only been seen a handful of times since, either under rules or in point-to-points, and pulled-up when most recently seen at Exeter.

Form: 3414/PP-

Sam Cavallaro^p¹³

Age: 12| Weight: 11-10| J: Jack Andrews⁽⁵⁾| T: Miss H Brookshaw| OR: 104| CD

8/1

Ran a nice race in a point-to-point last time out and two previous wins under rules came in this race in 2015 and 2016. Runner-up last year and strongly fancied to run another big race.

Form: 3/226P2-

Swallowshide¹²

Age: 9| Weight: 11-10| J: Mr G Treacy⁽⁷⁾| T: J H Young| OR: 99

66/1

On a long enough losing run both under rules and in point-to-points, and needs to step up on recent form to get involved in this (has had wind surgery).

Form: FP7444-

Forecasts

Monsieur Gibraltar (7/4), Loughaderra Prince (5/1), Mantou (5/1), Old Pride (6/1), Sam Cavallaro (8/1), Extreme Appeal (14/1), Dido (20/1), Champione (20/1), Swallowshide (66/1), Sadma (66/1), Mr Sawyer (66/1), Azure Glamour (66/1), Brave Jaq (80/1), Guiting Power (100/1), Curragh Hall (100/1)

A competitive enough affair, but many still have questions to answer. SAM CAVALLARO is twelve now, but that doesn't rule him out of making his mark at this level, and with form figures of 112 in this race over the previous three years everything looks set for him to run his usual big race, especially after he ran a nice race in a point-to-point last time. Monsieur Gibraltar must concede weight all round but arguably arrives here in the best form of any of these, so he's the main danger, ahead of Mantou.