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Lydia Hislop's Road to Cheltenham

ASCOT, ENGLAND - JANUARY 17:  Noel Fehily riding Dodging Bullets (L) cler the last to win The Sodexo Clarence House Steeple Chase from Sprinter Sacre and B
Image: Dodging Bullets beat Sprinter Sacre at Ascot

Lydia Hislop discusses Sprinter Sacre, The New One, Vautour and plenty more besides in her latest Road to Cheltenham column.

After almost 13 months of fervid speculation, this week was dominated by the longed-for return on Saturday of one of the most brilliant chasers of all time. Sprinter Sacre happily suffered no repeat of the atrial fibrillation that brought his dominance of the two-mile division to an end two Decembers ago, yet he did suffer defeat by Dodging Bullets, an improved model in his absence.

Elsewhere, The New One wiped his feet over a straight-on pot and Vautour came victoriously back to the table but again under exhibition conditions.

Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase

Sprinter Sacre ultimately fluttered no hearts on his return at Ascot. This was good news in the case of his own, trainer Nicky Henderson reporting the all clear on that score, via his specialist vet Professor Celia Marr, shortly after his horse’s three-length defeat in the Sodexo Clarence House Chase.

For most horses, what he achieved in finishing second to Dodging Bullets would have been, if not a triumph, certainly an overwhelming positive. But Sprinter Sacre is not most horses. At his best, he was rated an extraordinary 188 over fences; on Saturday, he was the best part of 20lbs below that.

He jumped well, letting fly some good leaps that were vaguely reminiscent of his pomp, and it is worth remembering that jockey Barry Geraghty later said that he felt like the winner for much of the race.

But what confidence he had quickly dissipated on the turn for home when the winner moved up so readily on his outside; from then on, this great talent was merely held together on the run for home. Although Geraghty is known for his guru-like positivity, his analysis precisely matches the pictures.

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“He felt great. He jumped brilliantly, travelled well; he just got tired,” he said. “You’d loved to have won, obviously, but he did everything bar win, really. He should improve a good bit for the race, so I’m delighted with how he was and everything about him…

“He got tired very quickly. I knew as soon as we started to turn in that I was treading water and a good jump at the second last kept him competitive, but I was well beaten going to the last.”

I don’t agree with the interpretation I’ve read that Sprinter Sacre found little off the bridle; I thought he kept on rather well, once switched, for a horse that was clearly being nursed home. However, I also don’t buy into the idea that he’ll return to his brilliant best in just under seven weeks’ time.

Henderson would not have had a horse as precious as this, who had suffered a problem as serious as this, that far off full fitness for his return. However, two paddock observers separately commented he lacked the condition on his neck that once marked him out as such an extraordinary physical specimen. Can this or his brilliance realistically be recovered so quickly?

Then there was the disconcerting news, delivered by Henderson as darkness fell at Ascot, that “there was some blood in his nose afterwards”.

“Obviously you’d prefer not to see that but he’s been scoped and… I don’t think it was significant as far as his performance was concerned today. It’s relevant but at this point, I hope, not seriously significant,” he said.

“You go through that extra bit of pressure in a race that you can’t do anywhere else… If you see it in their nostrils, you expect to find more [blood] than was evident [in this scope]… so the vets are filling me with confidence that it was nothing significant. But we’ll take note, of course we will, and keep everyone posted.”

The next day, Henderson reported a “perky” Sprinter Sacre to have eaten up and did not make much of the “small bleed” other than to say the horse will be “treated accordingly”. We must interpret his reaction as proportionate to the concern but, as Henderson himself acknowledged, it is not a positive.

Yet the performance of Dodging Bullets must not be lost amongst this. This is a horse who had delivered a career-best performance to win the Tingle Creek on his previous start and bettered that effort here.

As Noel Fehily, his rider on this occasion, said: “I think that was probably the best two-mile chase we’ve seen this year [meaning season] and that’s probably the best performance we’ve seen.”

Paul Nicholls, the winning trainer, stated after Sandown that Dodging Bullets had come of age, helped by greater physical maturity to withstand a tougher training regime, and the application of a tongue-tie.

His old frailties – a sense that he was in some way ‘soft’ and could not sustain his early-season form in the more important back-end contests – are probably best viewed in the past tense. This horse boasts the leading current form in this division and probably deserves to be favourite. And yet he is third best in the betting. If you fancy taking the 5/1 each way, I couldn’t argue with you.

Sprinter Sacre must also be considered in his current state rather than for his past greatness. That isn’t to say he won’t ever return to that brilliant best, but there is more than enough doubt that in my mind that he won’t be able to in time for March. So 11/4 looks decidedly short. He has a good chance of winning the Champion Chase, but no more than Dodging Bullets.

Fehily probably put it best when asked what he’d make of Sprinter Sacre’s run were he Geraghty. “You’d have to respect him going to Cheltenham again… Whether he’s the Sprinter Sacre of old, I’m not quite sure…” he said.

“Dodging Bullets is a very good horse now and I think he’s improved from last year… Sprinter Sacre? Maybe he isn’t the horse he was, but you’d have thought, taking on fit horses today, it’s still a very good run.”

When pressed, Geraghty’s words also betrayed this feeling and students of body language will have noted how he broke eye contact when asked how Sprinter Sacre’s current form compared with his peak.

“He gave a good feel,” he said. “His jumping will get slicker, he’ll be better for match practice, fitness, everything, so I’d be hopeful we’d narrow the gap come March.” The key words there are surely “narrow the gap”; the Sprinter Sacre of old would eat that horse for breakfast and go back for the jockey.

Of the also-rans, aggressive front-running tactics, even over a course and distance he likes, were of no use to Somersby, who put in an ignorant round of jumping for no good reason. He’ll probably run well in the Champion Chase anyway, just because he can.

Trainer Willie Mullins wanted to find out whether Twinlight is good enough and he found out: no, he isn’t. However, as his rider Ruby Walsh reasoned on the morning of the race, defeat for Sprinter Sacre must make it more likely that Champagne Fever runs here rather than in the Ryanair.

Walsh feels that horse was already beaten by Don Cossack when falling at the final fence in last Thursday’s Grade Two Kinloch Brae Chase at Thurles but also that Champagne Fever never travelled or jumped as well as he had in the King George.

His conclusion is that the horse is only at his best when fresh and his Festival form means you can’t discount him as a Champion Chase player.

Another contender, Sire De Grugy, is yet to play his cards this season due to what is being increasingly characterised as a minor setback treated cautiously by Gary Moore.

The trainer was at Ascot to witness Dodging Bullets deliver a performance in the same ballpark as those his stable star produced all last season and he looked the opposite of downcast afterwards.

Since then, however, the major mover in the ante-post market for this race has been Hidden Cyclone after Pricewise of the Racing Post tipped last year’s Ryanair runner-up in his ante-post column.

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Ryanair Chase

Don Cossack is another horse to have shrugged off last season’s slights with his current level of form. He would definitely have beaten Champagne Fever at Thurles, even had that horse stood up at the last, having gained the more telling impetus from the second last.

Last season he stood accused of finding little for pressure, although that was complicated by his attempts at three miles – a trip that now seems sure not to suit as well. Better ground will be a plus and, if you took the 10/1 after he won at Punchestown, you’re sitting pretty.

He fell in last season’s RSA Chase and made one other serious error in the race, but his hallmark this season – and last, outside of the Festival, to be fair – is good jumping. He’s now more than proved his appetite for success even when the going gets tough and is rightfully joint favourite for this event.

Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup

There was little to note over the past seven days in this division, save that Walsh still included Djakadam alongside On His Own and Boston Bob when asked on the Morning Line what his possible Gold Cup mount might be. That horse runs in this Thursday’s Goffs Thyestes Handicap Chase.

Taquin Du Seuil is a notable absentee from this Saturday’s Betbright Cup Chase at Cheltenham reportedly because his blood count is not right. He will instead run in next month’s Denman Chase at Newbury.

Stan James Champion Hurdle

His own jumping frailties and a lovely bit of enterprise from Harry Skelton put The New One bang in trouble in the Stanjames.com Champion Hurdle Trial at Haydock last Saturday. On all known form, it should have been a doddle.

Yes, the ground was not ideal and, yes, he was suggestible to the horse nearest to him jumping right and, yes, the Champion Hurdle is the race he’s being trained to peak for but this was not a performance to trouble supporters of Faugheen.

Trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies, rightly but typically, accentuated the positive. Perhaps the most salient points he made were: “It wasn’t pretty to watch but it was the first real race he’s had this season and it probably wouldn’t do him any harm... When he was asked, he really grafted, stuck his head down and won it.”

Bertimont was receiving 8lbs and is no slouch – trainer Dan Skelton deemed him worthy of a Champion Hurdle entry himself – and it was a delicious move from brother Harry to attack at the third last, winging it while The New One again lost time and impetus by jumping right.

Sam Twiston-Davies did well not to panic then, waiting until long after the last to go for everything on the favourite, and the duo had asserted by two-and-a-quarter lengths by the winning post. The fact that The New One is no shirker and boasts such a strong Festival record remain strongly in his favour.

However, this is not the first time he has jumped right and it was with good reason that Tony McCoy floated the idea on the Morning Line that the horse would have a much better chance in the Champion Hurdle were it staged on the stamina-favouring New Course. The fear is he’ll get outpaced again on the Old Course in March.

Bookmakers eased The New One but he remains second favourite. With Jezki due to take on Hurricane Fly again this Sunday, it’s a good time to fall in line with this column’s advice (if you haven’t already) and take the 6/1 each way still remarkably available with Ladbrokes about the titleholder.

JP McManus, Jezki’s owner, also has Plinth and Kitten Rock entered in the Champion Hurdle. The latter, who holds another entry in the World Hurdle, readily dispatched the mare Glens Melody in a Grade Three at Naas last Saturday despite pulling hard with an upright head carriage early on.

He jumped impeccably and knuckled down likeably at the finish, but the most taking moment of the race was when he made light of a tight squeeze on the inside of a fair field to take the lead approaching the third last with some ready pace. He’s raw but talented and worth monitoring for the medium term.

It’s interesting that, reportedly during an interview on Attheraces, owner Rich Ricci said that Faugheen is now likely to go straight to Cheltenham. This is a noteworthy change of plan, given Mullins previously stated we’d see the horse race in Britain once more before the Festival.

Rock On Ruby in 2012 was the last horse to win the Champion Hurdle having had his previous start in the Christmas Hurdle, in his case just losing out in a narrow finish to Binocular. Ricci also indicated that Faugheen had put on more condition since running at Kempton.

Garde La Victoire holds a Champion Hurdle entry but his fourth in an Ascot handicap last Saturday underlined his limitations, even if a slightly lesser trip and better ground would see him in a better light.

The most striking other entries made last week were safety nets for Mullins-trained horses with alternative plans: Annie Power, Un De Sceaux and Vautour. This fact will be of huge significance should Un De Sceaux come up short for whatever reason over fences at Leopardstown this coming Sunday.

Mullins has seven – count ‘em – of just 23 entries for this event.

Get the latest Champion Hurdle betting here!

Ladbrokes World Hurdle

The final superfluous rip for this column’s ante-post slip for Saphir Du Rheu was delivered by owner Andy Stewart last week after the horse was not only entered in the World Hurdle but committed to the race – provided all goes well on his return to the smaller obstacles at Cheltenham this Saturday. He is already joint-second favourite for the March contest.

Whisper is another struggling novice chaser to have been given this option. The pair met over hurdles at Ffos Las last February when Saphir Du Rheu got the better last-hurdle leap and beat the subsequent Coral Cup hero by a head. Crucially, though, the winner was conceding 6lb.

Among a total of 36 entries made last week for a race in which the titleholder, More Of That, has not been sighted since underperforming in November, the significant others include Back In Focus, Pont Alexandre, See You At Midnight and Un Temps Pour Tout.

The Mullins-trained pair are on the missing list: Back In Focus won the 2013 National Hunt Chase but hasn’t raced since below that form at Punchestown the following month and Pont Alexandre was last sighted finishing third to The New One in the 2013 Neptune. Hopes of the latter running over fences at the Festival must be all but extinguished.

See You At Midnight was a highly progressive novice last season, perpetually underestimated due to being trained by a small yard. He came up short at the Grand National meeting, however, and may need testing ground; he is yet to race this term.

Un Temps Pour Tout, tipped for this race at big odds by Ben Linfoot on this website, will return after eight months off in this Saturday’s galliardhomes.com Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham.

Never one to stick if a more ambitious twist is theoretically possible, Twiston-Davies has also entered Blaklion, this column’s Albert Bartlett selection, for the World Hurdle. The novice is also set to face his (current) superiors in the Cleeve, the result of which will likely decide his fate – although he is also entered among his peers at Doncaster the same day.

One of those Cleeve superiors is not Rock On Ruby, whose trainer Harry Fry has decided to try three miles for the first time in the World Hurdle itself. However, when interviewed on the subject at Ascot last Saturday, he tacitly admitted to traveling in hope rather than confidence of his horse’s stamina.

OLBG David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdles

Although she was stepping up to three miles for the first time, jockey Noel Fehily and trainer Harry Fry were determined to ride Bitofapuzzle as if she needed every inch of it. They were correct but, locked in battle with the tenaciously classy Carole’s Spirit at every flight, it was almost her undoing.

In the wobbly-legged plod from the last, dour stayer Land Of Vic was reeling both of them in and, given how the race panned out, was a tad unlucky. She had got shuffled back at a critical stage when short of room on the inside, although her own lack of tactical pace (despite first-time cheekpieces) greatly contributed to the problem.

Bitofapuzzle sealed victory with a great jump at the second last but was going on instinct by the time she got to the last. She has the physique of a chaser and could be even better in that sphere.

Fry sensibly suggested, despite her entry, that the OLBG-sponsored Festival event is an unsuitable target for a horse that so evidently needs three miles. But, as Paul Jones pointed out to his Weatherbys subscribers this week, Fry said he’d duck this race with Highland Retreat last season but she still ran. The wiles of Prestbury Park can get awful tempting as the date looms.

Carole’s Spirit was strictly the best horse at the weights but didn’t help herself by jumping even more markedly right than at Kempton on her previous start. She is nothing if not game, however, and, on jellylike legs of her own, she was bearing down on the exhausted Bitofapuzzle at the line.

However, I would not only be against Carole’s Spirit but actually concerned were she to run at the Festival, so extreme is her jumping bias.

Fourth-placed Fairytale Theatre continues to improve steadily – especially given her rider Bridget Andrews couldn’t claim her 7lb in Ascot’s Grade Two event – but still has more to find in this grade.

The disappointments were Dark Spirit, who might have felt the effects of a tough campaign already, and Mischievous Milly, who turned out quickly after returning from a long absence on her previous start. She bounced, hard.

Glens Melody was second to the peerless Quevega in this race last year and would have finished closer to Kitten Rock at Naas bar for a last-flight blunder. This was a small step forward on her previous effort. She was one of eight entries from Mullins among a record total of 48 for this event, including Vroum Vroum Mag (see below).

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Novice chasers

Vautour has now won two schooling sessions and been beaten the only time he encountered what could accurately be described as “a race” over fences – and yet he was still shortened as favourite for the JLT.

To be scrupulously fair, you could argue that’s because his Festival target is now more evident (even if Mullins remains coy on that point). It was certainly in no way reflective of what Vautour achieved as the 1/5 favourite in the three-runner, two-finisher Grade Two event he won at Leopardstown last Sunday.

As per his debut, he was gifted an unhassled lead by the only horse capable of keeping tabs on him for much of the race; even at the one fence that Real Steel was within hailing distance, he was taken wide. In contrast to Vautour’s debut, this main rival was incapable of posing a serious threat even before landing too steeply and crumpling at the last.

Vautour’s jumping was better than last time but careful. He made adjustments at his fences, although he did warm up as the race developed. It might well be that his jumping improves for a stronger pace but the fact remains that, unless he has another run prior to Cheltenham (unlikely, according to trainer Mullins), it has failed him the only time it’s really been tested.

Mullins cited “a little muscle problem” as the cause of Vautour’s below-par Christmas run and the horse did not appear (from TV pictures) to be sweating as he had then, so he might well be a happier horse now. Clearly, as we know from his Supreme success of last year, he possesses a great deal of ability.

The question is more: will he be capable of coping with the rough-and-tumble of a Festival chase in seven weeks’ time? And: do you think 7/2 is a good price for him to answer that question in the affirmative? I don’t.

It might be that his reputation frightens off a few rivals, making for a smaller and therefore more manageable field, but the first fence comes up quickly in the JLT. Were he to get that wrong or be a bit careful, like he was on Sunday, he could get shuffled back and then be playing catch-up from the start.

I’m assuming he’ll run in the JLT, even though Mullins stressed that we should not draw any definite conclusions about his Festival target. Yet what happens to Un De Sceaux this Sunday will play a part in decision-making, as will Walsh’s desire to have a live chance in as many Cheltenham races as he can.

Walsh appears to lean towards the 2m4f event. “He’s always struck me as a stayer,” he said after last Sunday’s success. “We’ve always ridden him like a stayer. We made all in the Supreme Novices’ and the same here over 2m3f. I’ve no doubt he’ll get further.”

The same set of connections also have Vroum Vroum Mag, who was both the most talented and cleanest-jumping of the mares contesting a Grade Two at Thurles last Thursday. Prior to dotting up by 26 lengths, she did land quite steeply at a couple of fences and that would be an issue for Cheltenham.

However, although she’ll surely get Festival entries to supplement her existing OLBG David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle engagement, I suspect she would only appear in any Cheltenham scenario in the case of owner Ricci needing a first reserve and is more likely to keep to her own gender in the Fairyhouse Grade One at Easter.

Both Top Gamble and Far West emerged with credit from their encounter in a 2m1f Newbury novices’ handicap chase last Wednesday, the former making all to beat the latter by two and a quarter lengths. The runner-up jumped neatly under pressure and shaped as if worth a try stepped back up in trip.

The winner, unbeaten over fences, possesses a clever technique and a willing attitude. Trainer Richard Lee will enter him in the Arkle but rightly wonders whether he is quite up to that grade. Nicholls is sure Far West isn’t, having previously also suggested he lacks the scope for that track.

There was an interesting novice event with handicaps in mind at Ascot. Kings Lad showed he doesn’t have to lead in his races when rallying to beat Traffic Fluide to Ascot. He’s improving with every start. Jockey Daryl Jacob wants to tread slowly but the advantages of a small step up in trip at the Festival could well tempt trainer Colin Tizzard

The runner-up is only five, jumped well and has a decent future. Behind, there were promising chase debuts from the keen Village Vic and Clondaw Draft, perhaps for left-handed tracks in particular.

Wounded Warrior looked to have the measure of Rule The World before the latter made a debilitating mistake at the second last when they met in a Naas Grade Two novices’ chase last Saturday.

The winner had been below form behind Gilgamboa at Limerick last time, perhaps due to more testing ground, and was suited by this longer trip. In fact, trainer Noel Meade later nominated the National Hunt Chase as his likely target and he heads there with a leading chance.

Rule The World was second in the 2013 Neptune and sixth in last year’s World Hurdle but is yet to reach those heights in two starts over fences; if anything, this was a retrograde step with the hood he wore last time removed. He has a fallback entry in the World Hurdle again.

Close Touch wasn’t up to beating Wakanda at Haydock last Saturday; in fact, he wasn’t capable of beating even one of his three rivals despite testing conditions surely being right up his street. However, there were excuses. He had jumped well and moved up to threaten the leader on the turn for home but nodded on landing at the fourth last.

The winner got away from that fence the better and was steered right by Danny Cook, despite having jumped or run down his fences markedly to the left throughout. That meant Nico de Boinville had to switch left to stage a rally alongside runner-up Cogry, approaching three out on Wakanda’s left.

Both suffered interference when the winner inevitably jumped across them, markedly so in the case of the favourite. Momentum and rhythm severely compromised, Close Touch then made a mistake at the penultimate flight and was not persisted with afterwards.

Cogry was again carried left at the last but then could only keep on at one pace behind the cannily ridden winner, who looks a dour galloper.

Meanwhile, Colour Squadron never mustered a substantial challenge and, while you’re reeling from that revelation, it’s worth noting he looked more explicitly uncooperative than usual: responding grudgingly to encouragement and hanging sharply left when the whip was brandished. There must be something causing him problems.

The entries for all four non-handicap novice events – the Racing Post Arkle Trophy, JLT Novices’ Chase, RSA Chase and Toby Balding National Hunt Chase – will all be published this Thursday. Saphir Du Rheu might well be entered in one or two of them but, as stated above, the World Hurdle is now the aim.

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Novice hurdlers

Out Sam displayed as much inexperience as ability when winning the final race at Ascot last Saturday and he needed most of the 2m6f trip to get on top. He was sent off a short-priced favourite, having previously won a falsely run but strongly contested novices’ hurdle at Newbury, and carried a penalty.

Henderson subsequently indicated that, although the horse would likely be entered at the Festival, his feeling is the experience would be too much, too soon in this particular six-year-old’s career.

He’s “a work in progress” according to Geraghty and the Grade One Sefton at the Grand National meeting is instead the preferred tentative target. Geraghty also memorably described Sugar Baron, the yard’s winner of a Newbury novice on his hurdles debut last Wednesday, as “an innocent”, meaning that horse is unlikely to head to Cheltenham either.

In Ireland, Measureofmydreams ran down fellow Gigginstown Stud emissary and 1/4 favourite Milsean in a 2m6f Thurles maiden approaching the last. Neither had jumped particularly well, despite not really pressing each other at any obstacle bar that last. Neither horse impressed.

Aso took the Grade Two SkyBet Supreme Trial at Haydock by four-and-a-half lengths from Kiama Bay – a race his trainer Venetia Williams also won last year with Zamdy Man. Aso is improving steadily and, although his best efforts have been on testing ground so far, there is reason to think he’ll handle a sound surface. The Betfair Hurdle is a possible, but demanding, target.

Juvenile hurdlers

My instinct is that Top Notch beat a back-to-form Golden Doyen at Ascot last Saturday. The latter had disappointed in Grade One company on testing ground at Chepstow last time and probably found the easier class and better going more to his liking this time.

He harried the winner all the way to the line with that tenacity he’d shown in rallying to beat Hargam at Cheltenham earlier this season. However, this defeat surely directs him towards the Fred Winter, rather than the Triumph, if indeed he does go to the Festival.

Both Maxie T and Ahio, in a distant third and fourth at Ascot, suggested they are not up to this grade but capable of winning races once handicapped.

Two particularly good jumps, under pressure at the last two hurdles, ensured victory for Top Notch. However, although Cheltenham’s New Course is a relative stamina test, he risks being out-speeded in the Triumph – particularly if drying conditions prevail by the fourth day of the Festival.

As it is, he may not run. Yet he would surely be bound for that race were it not for the overlapping riches in this division boasted by both trainer Henderson and owners Simon Munir and Isaac Souede.

The former has Hargam, Bivouac and Peace And Co to juggle; the owners – perhaps more pertinently – have Peace And Co, Bristol De Mai (who thumped Golden Doyen) and Vercingetorix to consider.

We should hopefully discover some more about likely targets as a result of this weekend when Peace And Co, ante-post favourite for the Triumph, takes on the likes of Zarib at Cheltenham.

At Newbury last Wednesday, Brook won the opening event as the best of a trio of David Pipe-trained juveniles in the race. This was much better than his UK debut behind Karezak and Golden Doyen at Chepstow in October but rider Tom Scudamore was reportedly of the view that this year would be too soon for him to contest the Festival.

Runner-up Shimba Hills will do better in conditions placing greater emphasis on speed, given he travelled and jumped so well until getting tired at the last. Norse Legend is a far better hurdler than he was on the Flat and had a tough ask here, conceding 7lb all round. Bassarabad continues to look like a stayer.

Although he was thoroughly beaten in this race, I won’t give up on stablemate Classical Art over hurdles just yet. He continues to shape with ability and will be of interest in handicaps on a sounder surface.

Devilment was a decent staying handicapper on the Flat for Godolphin and, now with John Ferguson, showed he’s going the right way over hurdles, easily winning an interesting juvenile maiden hurdle at Wetherby on Tuesday.

This was his second start and, despite being keen, he was still on a tight rein until after the penultimate flight when he was shaken up and asked to assert; this he did, readily. He could be interesting for the Fred Winter.

There was plenty of interest among the backwash: notably Lil Rockerfeller, who had not finished improving on the Flat last year, jumped well after a large blunder at the first hurdle and finished off his race strongly, and Scoppio Del Carro, who travelled well but was shuffled back approaching the second last. Handicaps await.

Get the latest Triumph Hurdle betting here!

Ante-post betting portfolio to date:

Douvan: Supreme Novices’ Hurdle – already advised at 12/1

Saphir Du Rheu: JLT Novices’ Chase – already advised at 14/1 [likely NR]

Jezki: Stan James Champion Hurdle – already advised each-way at 6/1

Boston Bob: Gold Cup – already advised, each way at 20/1

Blaklion: Albert Bartlett – already advised at 10/1

L’Ami Serge: Supreme – already advised at 12/1

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