1.30pm - Grade 1 JCB Triumph Hurdle
Trainer Record (Last 20 years)
- Nicky Henderson - 21 runners, 4 winners and 4 places
- Willie Mullins - 41 runners, 3 winners and 9 places
- Philip Hobbs - 7 runners, 3 winners and 2 places
- Paul Nicholls - 26 runners, 2 winners and 2 places
- Alan King - 24 runners, 2 winners and 4 places
Jockey Record (Last 20 years)
- Paul Townend - 13 rides, 3 winners and 3 places
- Daryl Jacob - 9 rides, 1 winner and 1 place
- Jack Kennedy - 4 rides, 1 winner and 1 place
- Rachael Blackmore - 4 rides, 1 winner and 1 place
- Nico De Boinville - 2 rides with 1 winner
Past 10 winners of the Triumph Hurdle
- Tiger Roll - Gordon Elliott & Jack Kennedy (2014)
- Peace And Co - Nicky Henderson & Barry Geraghty (2015)
- Ivanovich Gorbatov - Aidan O'Brien & Barry Geraghty (2016)
- Defi Du Seuil - Philip Hobbs & Richard Johnson (2017)
- Farclas - Gordon Elliott & Jack Kennedy (2018)
- Pentland Hills - Nicky Henderson & Nico De Boinville (2019)
- Burning Victory - Willie Mullins & Paul Townend (2020)
- Quilixios - Henry De Bromhead & Rachael Blackmore (2021)
- Vauban - Willie Mullins & Paul Townend (2022)
- Lossiemouth - Willie Mullins & Paul Townend (2023)
Britain vs Ireland
- Britain - 12 winners with 19 places from 202 runners
- Ireland - 8 winner with 21 places from 118 runners
Ante-post JCB Triumph Hurdle selection:
Now I got it pretty wrong with Sir Gino over the weekend, he looks an absolute weapon and will take some stopping to win this race. However, given his very short price, and that there are some unexposed Willie Mullins types yet to line up recently, I have picked out two that I like at decent prices currently.
Let's start with Burdett Road, who wasn't disgraced when getting beat by Sir Gino, but was ultimately far too keen and was completely outpaced up the Cheltenham Hill. He is still showing some of his flat tendencies, but one thing to note is how he used to run on the flat (all of his wins on the level were either "made all" or "in touch with leaders"), so this drop-him-out-the-back style of running might not suit him at this time, as he us used to being up there with the pace, and making it on a fair few occasions.
We saw it a few seasons back with Allmankind, who was as green as grass when he went over obstacles, and that is how he ran on the flat also, so it might not be possible to get him to settle better, just like it was with Allmankind.
I would like to see the team change tactics slightly and just let him run from the front and play “catch me if you can”. We know he can handle the Cheltenham Hill as he showed when winning the Grade 2 trial in some style, and if he were to get a couple of lengths head start coming around the bend at the bottom of the Hill, he could easily fend them all off.
Ultimately he might just not be good enough, but I feel the drift in the market for him is a slight overreaction, and he has shown he is probably the second-best juvenile in Britain.
Harry Cobden seems to be pretty adamant he wasn't at his best at Cheltenham against Sir Gino, so we shall see if there is anything else to come. If he was to either settle a lot better, or connections change tactics to a front-running display, he could be hard to catch and show the drift is a real overreaction from last weekend.
Another one that I like the look of who is a little shorter in the market now than what he was a few weeks back is Bunting, who might not be the Willie Mullins first string, but the manner in which he won on hurdle debut at Limerick was very impressive.
A winner on the flat in France for previous connections, he is the typical Willie Mullins flat recruit who could be absolutely anything now going over hurdles. He was sent off 38/1 for his flat win in France, so there wasn't much support for him really, but a horse never knows his odds and he duly hacked up by 7 lengths after getting into stride slowly at the start of the race.
Going to his hurdle debut win, the form of that race is very hit and miss, as the fifth-placed horse Timeless Piece has won since, but then did run quite disappointingly over the weekend when expected to win.
The second and fourth in Bunting's hurdle race have also run since, putting in disappointing efforts, so probably more miss than hit at this stage. However the Tony Bloom-owned horse couldn't have been any more impressive, jumping well before surging clear in the closing stages, to win looking like a really nice animal. #
He runs at the Dublin Racing Festival in the Grade 1 Spring Juvenile Hurdle, so how he gets on there could determine his price for the Triumph Hurdle, and I will be keeping an eye out for how he gets on, and the Triumph market after he runs this weekend.
- Selections - Bunting EW (10/1 Generally) & Burdett Road EW (12/1 Generally)
2.50pm - Grade 1 Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle
Trainer Record (Last 20 years)
- Willie Mullins - 47 runners, 3 winners and 6 places
- Jonjo O'Neill - 2 runners with 2 winners
- Nicky Henderson - 18 runners, with 1 winner and 3 places
- Paul Nicholls - 13 runners, 1 winner and 3 places
- Alan King - 11 runners, 1 winner and 1 place
Jockey Record (Last 20 years)
- Paul Townend - 12 rides, 2 winners and 1 place
- Harry Cobden - 4 rides with 2 winners
- Adrian Heskin - 8 rides with 1 winner
- Rachael Blackmore - 5 rides with 1 winner
- Mark Walsh - 5 rides with 1 winner
Past 10 winners of the Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle
- Very Wood - Noel Meade & Paul Carberry (2014)
- Martello Tower - Margaret Mullins & Adrian Heskin (2015)
- Uknowhatimeanharry - Harry Fry & Noel Fehily (2016)
- Penhill - Willie Mullins & Paul Townend (2017)
- Kilbricken Storm - Colin Tizzard & Harry Cobden (2018)
- Minella Indo - Henry De Bromhead & Rachael Blackmore (2019)
- Monkfish - Willie Mullins & Paul Townend (2020)
- Vanillier - Gavin Cromwell & Mark Walsh (2021)
- The Nice Guy - Willie Mullins & Sean O'Keeffe (2022)
- Stay Away Fay - Paul Nicholls & Harry Cobden (2023)
Britain vs Ireland
- Britain - 9 winners, 18 places from 217 runners
- Ireland - 9 winners, 20 places from 125 runners
Ante-post selection for the Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle:
Willie Mullins has five of the top six in the market entered up, and there will no doubt be plenty of eyes on High Class Hero who is quite a few people’s pick for the race.
However, I really like the look of Loughglynn, who looks to be a real galloping, staying type who is also entered up at the Dublin Racing Festival this weekend in the Grade 1 affair over 2m6f, so how he gets on there could decide his price for the Albert Bartlett next month.
I highly doubt he will be Willie's first string for the Albert Bartlett no matter what he does this weekend, but as we saw with The Nice Guy two seasons ago, he can have one go slightly under the radar who could land this contest.
Loughglynn ran a few times in bumpers, which included a win against Firefox on his second start, as well as a 9th-placed effort in the Champion Bumper. Now given the 2-mile trip is definitely not this horse's bag, he still ran very well in his level races, and has looked a whole lot more at home since going over a hurdle up in distance.
A very comfortable winner over 2m5f for his maiden hurdle win, he did jump pretty novicey that day but did make all and win keeping on very well past the last, to coast home by 10 lengths. He then took another step up in trip, as well as a step up in class when running in the Grade 2 Novice Hurdle at Limerick, where he battled on nicely to beat Stellar Story.
Although he didn't exactly catch the eye compared to a few of the other Willie Mullins horses, he still won by a length and was keeping on superbly to the line. He is obviously just a true galloper and stayer who will appreciate the stiff nature of Cheltenham for the Albert Bartlett, and that race really could be his bag next month.
All being well with his DRF run over the weekend, he will come into the 3-mile novice hurdle with a real chance come March. I really like this horse's chances and can see him shortening all the time before the race in a few weeks time.
- Selection - Loughglynn EW (14/1 Generally)
3.30pm - Grade 1 Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase
Trainer Record (Last 20 years)
- Paul Nicholls - 35 runners, 3 winners and 7 places
- Willie Mullins - 32 runners, 3 winners and 7 places
- Nicky Henderson - 16 runners, 2 winners and 4 places
- Henry De Bromhead - 10 runners, 2 winners and 2 places
- Jonjo O'Neill - 10 runners, 1 winner and 3 places
Jockey Record (Last 20 years)
- Paul Townend - 11 rides, 3 winners and 1 place
- Nico De Boinville - 7 rides, 1 winner and 2 places
- Paddy Brennan - 7 rides with 1 winner
- Rachael Blackmore - 4 rides with 1 winner and 1 place
- Jack Kennedy - 3 rides with 1 winner
Past 10 horses to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup
- Lord Windermere - Jim Culloty & Davy Russell (2014)
- Coneygree - Mark Bradstock & Nico De Boinville (2015)
- Don Cossack - Gordon Elliott & Bryan Cooper (2016)
- Sizing John - Jessie Harrington & Robbie Power (2017)
- Native River - Colin Tizzard & Richard Johnson (2018)
- Al Boum Photo - Willie Mullins & Paul Townend (2019)
- Al Boum Photo - Willie Mullins & Paul Townend (2020)
- Minella Indo - Henry De Bromhead & Jack Kennedy (2021)
- A Plus Tard - Henry De Bromhead & Rachael Blackmore (2022)
- Galopin Des Champs - Willie Mullins & Paul Townend (2023)
Britain vs Ireland
- Britain - 10 winners, 25 places from 180 runners
- Ireland - 10 winners, 15 places from 81 runners
Ante-post Cheltenham Gold Cup selection:
This could be a really, really good contest this year with the seven at the top end of the market all being multiple Grade 1 winners, and although they will have to be absolutely on the top of their game to beat last year’s winner Galopin Des Champs, Fastorslow has previously shown twice that the Willie Mullins star is definitely beatable, as he has beaten him on two separate occasions (albeit with excuses, first time was after a hard Gold Cup and second time was first run of the season etc)
Although ultimately Galopin Des Champs is the most likely winner, it does take a special horse to win back-to-back Gold Cups. With that in mind, at the current prices I think it is worth looking at L'Homme Presse, who bounced back in perfect style to win after a year-plus off the track last time when winning the Fleur De Lys Chase at Lingfield.
As mentioned, that was his first run since the 2022 King George, so there could be the issue of the "bounce factor" - however, this horse has always gone well fresh and then backed it up next time. He was an awesome winner of the 2022 Brown Advisory Chase at a mud-flying Cheltenham, with Ahoy Senor in behind that day.
He loves to make it from the front, and will appreciate any mud that might be flying around that day, although looking at previous renewals of this race, we haven't had testing conditions for some time now. However, he showed last time that the slightly better conditions will be no issue for him.
He appears to be creeping under the radar this season, and it was awesome to see him back and firing on all cylinders last time, beating Protektorat by 2 and a quarter lengths. He probably was looking a little tired towards the end last time, but given it was his first outing in over a year, he is entitled to have a little blow and come on for the run.
There is talk of him heading to Ascot for the Ascot Chase later on this month, so we shall see if he tackles that race before heading to the Gold Cup, and although it would be good to see him back that effort up from last time, I feel he might be a slightly better horse heading to the Gold Cup fresh - however, Venetia Williams is very good at getting her horses ready, so we shall see in due course.
Another one I like at the prices is Shishkin, who has been quite unlucky this season, although he was the master of his own downfall at Ascot for his first run where he refused to race.#
He was then lined up for Newcastle for the Rehearsal Chase (unfortunately called off due to the weather), before then heading to the King George with no prep run. He looked to have the race in the bag two out, but unfortunately caught his own foot and stumbled, giving Nico De Boinville no chance of staying aboard.
Considering that was his first run of the season, he did look the one to beat with two to jump, and although we will never know if he would have lasted home or not before the freak unseating, I firmly believe he would have been very close to winning it that day.
When you put into perspective, coming up against Bravemansgame and Allaho with no prep run, and looking like the winner all the way around that day, is an almighty effort, and although he is yet to run anything like 3m2f at Cheltenham, he is a two-time Cheltenham Festival winner previously (albeit over two miles).
He just looks to save some for himself these days, which will be good for these longer races he is now likely to run in going forward. I think he will most likely be in trouble during the race, but will come home good like he did at Aintree last season when tackling the 3-mile trip for the first time, although three miles at Liverpool is completely different to the Gold Cup trip at Cheltenham.
Given the manner in which he ran last time prior to the unfortunate accident, I think he is an out-and-out 3-miler now. If Nicky Henderson could win a Gold Cup with Shishkin, then that would be an incredible training performance from the master of Seven Barrows.
- Selections - L'Home Presse EW (10/1 Generally) & Shishkin EW (10/1 Generally)
Previews and tips provided by @ Jake Russell