Cheltenham 2008

[maddog]

I still fancy Sublimity for the champion hurdle. I know Sizing Europe was impressive last time out but I dont think he beat much to be honest. I think Sublimity is being primed for cheltenham and think he will come right. My other festival bankers would be Franchook, Inglis Drever and Kauto Star. Would anyone be able to post latest odds for these horses as I cant access bookmakers sites in work! cheers

10/1 Franchoek for novice hurdle
6/5 Inglis
5/4 Kauto

[jaykay]

http://www.racingpost.co.uk/c4/

You could try this site Mickey, it's not blocked here which is a bloody big surprise.

[Bensars]

Betfair

Gold Cup

Kato Star 5/4
Denham  15/8
Kicking King  18/1
Exotic dancer    18/1


Triumph Hurdle

Franchook  11/4
Celestial Halo  9/1
Binocular 9.5/1

[Homer]

http://www.racingpost.co.uk/c4/

You could try this site Mickey, it's not blocked here which is a bloody big surprise.

If anyone isn't registered with the RP.

username: slickman
password: junglecat

[AZOffaly]

I still fancy Sublimity for the champion hurdle. I know Sizing Europe was impressive last time out but I dont think he beat much to be honest. I think Sublimity is being primed for cheltenham and think he will come right. My other festival bankers would be Franchook, Inglis Drever and Kauto Star. Would anyone be able to post latest odds for these horses as I cant access bookmakers sites in work! cheers

Sublimity    PP - 9/2 Lads 5/1 Champion Hurdle
Sizing Europe PP - 9/4 Lads 2/1 Champion Hurdle
Franchoek PP - 11/4 Lads 9/4Triumph Hurdle
Inglis Drever PP - Evens Lads Evens World Hurdle
Kauto Star PP - Evens Lads 11/10 Gold Cup

[Louth Exile]

Kicking King continues on the comeback trail at Gowran this Saturday. It would be great if he could even put it up to the Nicholls pair, too big an ask for even a great horse such as him to win it though

[boshiba]

Yeah, sprained fetlock but no confirmation until the morn. Not looking good tho..... Absolutely raging!!!!!!!

[Louth Exile]

Taken from the racing post website this morning............


A HUGELY relieved Paul Nicholls this morning said that the scare over Kauto Star's fitness was all but over.

After impressively winning the Grade 1 Ascot Chase on Saturday the Gold Cup winner was found to be lame behind.

On returning home Nicholls and head lad Clifford Baker took the shoe off the hind leg to relieve any pressure and poulticed the foot over night. It was at this point they were confident the problem was not serious.

Nicholls said this morning: "I've had a very sleepless night but fortunately this morning puss came out of the foot and when we trotted him up he was virtually sound.

"There will be no setback with his training for the Gold Cup."

"He would have had a couple of days off after running anyway and this should clear up within 48 hours, so it shouldn't make too much difference.

A number of bookmakers suspended their markets on the Gold Cup after rumours about the wellbeing of Kauto Star began to surface.

"We were fairly confident it was something simple like that but it's a huge relief," Nicholls added.

"I was almost afraid to go in this morning to find out what was wrong!

"I'm absolutely chuffed though, and it's all systems go for the Gold Cup now."

Kauto Star and stablemate Denman have long dominated the Gold Cup market and the pair are set to clash for the first time in the March 14 event.

VC Bet make Kauto Star their even-money favourite following Nicholls' upbeat bulletinwith Denman a 13-8 chance.

Exotic Dancer is next best at 10-1 with Star De Mohaison, another Nicholls' inmate, a 25-1 shot.


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Great to hear it, opened the Tribune this morning and saw the scary news. I'm unlikely to have a bet on the gold cup myself, but like any racing person, really looking forward to the clash of the big two.


What about Kicking King??? Very disappointing run, I was flicking between ATR, C4 and BBC after the race to guage the different reactions and pundits on two of the three stations thought Taafe would now not send him to Cheltenham!! There goes the small glimmer of hope we had of an Irish winner of the GC

[Hardy]

Very sad to see what appears to be the demise of Kicking King. Very surprising too, after what
appeared to be a great run on his return. There doesn't appear to be any indication that anything
was wrong with him. However, I read somewhere that Taaffe still intends to send him to the Gold Cup.

Like every NH fan, though, I can't wait for Kauto Star v. Denman.

[Louth Exile]

That "bounce factor" could be to blame, although even the top horsemen can't explain why it happens

[Homer]

Only three weeks today til it all kicks off so it's probably a good time to bring this back up and review the ante-posts.

I'm not a huge fan of Ante Post betting but my early analysis would be...

I'll probably be backing Cork All Star if he runs in the Supreme or Ballymore Novices Hurdle

I fancy Sizing Europe (10/1) in the Champion Hurdle but despite his poor run last time out Sublimity (4/1) will be right come March and will take some over-turning. When Harchibald (8/1) beat Al Eile it looked like he was a new horse that responded under pressure, but his run against Straw Bear was very poor. A mate close to the stable told me to back Al Eile (25/1) when he last ran in Leopardstown, I decided to leave it and was left to rue the chance when he hacked up, so I'll probably have him EW.

Nickname (20/1) ran well on it's debut this season given the ground was against him. It looks like he will head for the Queen Mother and has very good EW chance. Twist Magic (7/4) goes in as favorite and rightfully so, but I've been impressed with Mansony (14/1) this year and will have an EW on him. I expect this price to shorthen once he has put Twist magic in his place tomorrow.

Mossbank (6/1) is a solid contender for the Ryanair, and has been improving with every run this season. I'm almost positive he will take on this race rather than get involved in Gold Cup yet finished the stronger of Denman and The Listener last time out.

An old favourite Hardy Eustace (12/1) is going for the World Hurdle, he owes me nothing so I'll have another EW on him.

I'm a big fan of Franchoek (11/2) and at the moment I can't see past him in the Triumph.

It's between Glencove Marina (10/1) and Thyne Again (20/1) in the Sun Alliance for me but both may yet opt to run in the Arkle in whisch case the same would apply.

Looks like we could be in for a cracking Gold Cup this year, Kauto Star (5/4), Denman (9/4), Exotic Dancer (11/1), Kicking King (33/1). I'm a big fan of Denman but I don't hold much hope of him over turning his stable mate. Exotic Dancer is way over priced and despite the fact that he is sick of the sight of Kauto's arse he is still a good EW shout. I won't be backing Kicking King but I would absolutley delighted to see him up among the reckoning. He has 2 entries this weekend Naas tomorrow and Fairyhouse on Sunday.

Backing Chocolate Thorton when I rides for King at Cheltenham served me very well last year so I'll probably be keeping it up.

So as regards AP, I'm backing the following now with a view to trade some of it off closer to the date for a few free bets.

Sizing Europe @ 10/1 EW
Al Eile @ 25/1 EW
Mansony @ 14/1 EW
Mossbank @ 6/1 EW
Francheok @ 11/2 EW
Kauto Star @ 5/4
Exotic Dancer @ 11/1 EW

So there you go lads empty the bank accounts and start laying every single horse you see in bold there 

Well its a mixed bag really but despite the dead money on Al Eile and the disappointing drift on Mansony, I'm quite content so far, with Sizing Europe and Francheok now looking good value.

Sizing Europe @ 10/1 EW - now 9/4   
Al Eile @ 25/1 EW - (now looks set to run either in the world hurdle or not at all) 
Mansony @ 14/1 EW - now 25/1 
Mossbank @ 6/1 EW - now 5/1   
Francheok @ 11/2 EW - now 5/2   
Kauto Star @ 5/4 - now 5/4   
Exotic Dancer @ 11/1 EW - now layed @ 11/2   

A big scare with Kauto Star on Saturday night (drifted as far as 9s on Betfair after hitting EVENS earlier that day). Thankfully the worries in the Nicholls camp turned out to be minimal and he had resumed the favourites' tag by Sunday morning. I did manage to take some advantage of the market swing by hedging my bet on Exotic Dancer for a small profit (I layed him near 11/2 but he even went as low as 5s).

Fortunately for me the ambiguity surrounding which race Glencove Marina and Thyne Again would take part in, seems to have saved me a few shillings with Glencove now out for the season and Thyne Again not showing much, when up against better opposition.

I had a small bet for the Ballymore Properties on Aux Le Bahnn before he raced on Monday last, he's a fine horse but after seeing the run he obviously doesn't stay the 2m 5f so I have layed it off again at a small loss. I'm now going to go with Hold Em (25/1) for the Ballymore instead simply because I think he is great value especially considering he finished a close 2nd to the ante post favourite Aigle DOr (5/1) over C&D last time out and it was also only his second outing over hurdles. If he can continue to improve I think he'll have a huge chance of victory.

I'm also adding a small bet on Numide (12/1) for the Supreme Novices. Has won both starts over hurdles in convincing fashion. Showed excellent flat form in France, was only beaten 2 lengths in the French Derby with plenty of good horses behind him, prior to that he beat a horse called Gentlewave who went on to finish 2nd to Dylan Thomas in the Irish Derby. Also beat the one time Epsom derby favourite Visindar. This horse really has the ability to be something special.

Finally I'm gonna have another small touch EW on Zaarito (6/1) in the Champion Bumper, very impressed with his last run and if he can produce something similar he'll go very close.

So here's what the betslip looks like now.

Supreme Nov. Hurdle - Numide @ 12/1 EW
Champion Hurdle - Sizing Europe @ 10/1 EW
Ballymore Novices - Hold Em @ 25/1 EW
Champion Chase - Mansony @ 14/1 EW
Champion Bumper - Zaarito @ 6/1 EW
Ryanair Chase - Mossbank @ 6/1 EW
Triumph Hurdle - Francheok @ 11/2 EW
Chelt Gold Cup - Kauto Star @ 5/4

Gold Cup - Exotic Dancer @ 11/1 EW  Hedged
Champion Hurdle - Al Eile @ 25/1 EW  Non Runner

[Homer]

I'm now going to go with Hold Em (25/1) for the Ballymore instead simply because I think he is great value especially considering he finished a close 2nd to the ante post favourite Aigle DOr (5/1) over C&D last time out and it was also only his second outing over hurdles. If he can continue to improve I think he'll have a huge chance of victory.

Runs today (3.25 Huntingdon) he's fairly skinny at only 6/4 but fingers crossed he can produce an impressive performance and the win of course.

[Homer]

I'm now going to go with Hold Em (25/1) for the Ballymore instead simply because I think he is great value especially considering he finished a close 2nd to the ante post favourite Aigle DOr (5/1) over C&D last time out and it was also only his second outing over hurdles. If he can continue to improve I think he'll have a huge chance of victory.

Runs today (3.25 Huntingdon) he's fairly skinny at only 6/4 but fingers crossed he can produce an impressive performance and the win of course.

Left himself a lot to do (drifting to 9/1 in-running) and battled really well to win it in the end.

Still not just as impressive a performance as I'd hoped, and I wouldn't expect him to shorten too much for Cheltenham on that run. Won't be tearing up the docket just yet though.

[Gabriel_Hurl]

I might have a cheeky wee each-way punt on him nonetheless

[Homer]

I might have a cheeky wee each-way punt on him nonetheless

If you do Hurl make sure you do it with Paddy Power, Boylesports or William Hill as they're still offering 25/1 while most the others have moved into 16s.