
Handicap races on Day Two of Cheltenham Festival
2.50pm - Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle
Trainer Record (Past 20 years)
- Nicky Henderson - 55 runners, 4 winners and 4 places
- Gordon Elliott - 30 runners, 3 winners and 5 places
- Willie Mullins - 48 runners, 1 winner and 6 places
- Paul Nicholls - 24 runners, 1 winner and 4 places
- Alan King - 20 runners, 1 winner and 4 places
Jockey Record (Past 20 years)
- Nico De Boinville - 9 rides with 2 winners
- Sam Twiston-Davies - 11 rides with 1 winner and 3 places
- Harry Skelton - 9 rides with 1 winner and 1 place
- Mark Walsh - 8 rides with 1 winner
- Aidan Coleman - 13 rides with 4 places
Last 10 years of the Coral Cup
- Whisper - Nicky Henderson & Nico De Boinville (2014)
- Aux Ptits Soins - Paul Nicholls & Sam Twiston-Davies (2015)
- Diamond King - Gordon Elliott & Davy Russell (2016)
- Supasundae - Jessie Harrington & Robbie Power (2017)
- Bleu Berry - Willie Mullins & Mark Walsh (2018)
- William Henry - Nicky Henderson & Nico De Boinville (2019)
- Dame De Compagnie - Nicky Henderson & Barry Geraghty (2020)
- Heaven Help Us - Paul Hennessy & Richard Condon (2021)
- Commander Of Fleet - Gordon Elliott & Shane Fitzgerald (2022)
- Langer Dan - Dan Skelton & Harry Skelton (2023)
Britain vs Ireland
- Britain - 11 winners and 38 places from 365 runners
- Ireland - 9 winners and 22 places from 158 runners
- France - 1 winner and 0 places from 3 runners
Ante-post Coral Cup selection:
This race has a really poor record for favourites, with only winning market leaders since 2000, plus this is usually a race for younger legs, with only two winners of the race aged 8 years or older.
That potentially bodes well for the lightly-raced 5-year-old Lucky Palace, who is trained by Nicky Henderson (who has won this race 4 times since 2010) and looks to have a pretty lenient mark of 137 after 5 runs for current connections that have produced one win and four places.
After one run in bumpers, he was sent over hurdles quickly so it is clear to see that connections had obstacles in mind, and although winning once in four runs over hurdles, he has placed on all the other occasions, which includes a very decent 2nd to Gidleigh Park in a Grade 2 novices contest at Cheltenham last month.
That run has put him up to a new rating of 137 from 132, and although it could be argued that he has a pretty lofty mark for just the four runs over hurdles so far, he is still learning on the job and could literally be anything, even a Graded type further down the line.
The Coral Cup trip should hold no issues, as shown last time, as well as Cheltenham being a real test that he will enjoy, and his current rating of 137 falls in the bracket of horses rated 147 or below doing well in this race.
Although this race can be difficult for first season hurdlers, if Nicky Henderson was to send this horse to the Coral Cup on the Wednesday of the Festival, then that would speak volumes, as Nicky H is not one to rush a horse into a tricky contest.
He is entered in the Baring Bingham and Albert Bartlett, and ultimately they might end up going for one of those, but the fact that he is entered into the Coral Cup does speak for something and he is currently a pretty big price for those Grade 1 contests.
Lucky Place is currently priced up with a few firms at the 12/1 or 10/1 mark for the Coral Cup, so that could mean connections are leaning towards this race instead of the novice contests. Ultimately he might not go for this race, but if he does, most of the previous trends do fit this horse and his profile.
- Selection - Lucky Place (12/1 or 10/1 Generally)
4.10 - Glenfarclas Chase (Cross Country Chase)
Trainer Record (Past 20 years)
- Enda Bolger - 47 runners, 5 winners and 11 places
- Gordon Elliott - 20 runners, 5 winners and 7 places
- Philip Hobbs - 12 runners, 2 winner and 2 places
- Henry De Bromhead - 11 runners, 1 winner and 2 places
- Michael Hourigan - 7 runners, 1 winner and 4 places
Jockey Record (Past 20 years)
- Keith Donoghue - 6 rides with 4 winners and 1 place
- Adrian Heskin - 7 rides with 1 winner and 3 places
- JJ Codd - 4 rides with 1 winner and 2 places
- Jack Kennedy - 1 ride with 1 winner
- Patrick Mullins - 8 rides with 2 places
Last 10 winners of the X Country Chase
- Balthazar King - Philip Hobbs & Richard Johnson (2014)
- Rivage D'Or - Anthony Martin & Davy Russell (2015)
- Josies Orders - Enda Bolger & Nina Carberry (2016)
- Cause Of Causes - Gordon Elliott & JJ Codd (2017)
- Tiger Roll - Gordon Elliott & Keith Donoghue (2018)
- Tiger Roll - Gordon Elliott & Keith Donoghue (2019)
- Easysland - David Cottin & Jonathan Plouganou (2020)
- Tiger Roll - Denise Foster & Keith Donoghue (2021)
- Delta Work - Gordon Elliott & Jack Kennedy (2022)
- Delta Work - Gordon Elliott & Keith Donoghue (2023)
Britain vs Ireland
- Ireland - 16 winners and 35 places from 153 runners
- Britain - 2 winners and 9 places from 121 runners
- France - 1 winner and 4 places from 23 runners
Ante-post Glenfarclas Cross Country selection:
Although there are a few National Hunt stars in the contest at this stage this year, they are not yet hitting their usual sparkling form.
Delta Work comes into the race off the back of winning it the last two seasons, but he has looked ever so slightly below his best this season, and as the mighty Tiger Roll showed, it is very hard to win this race three years in a row.
Although most will definitely fancy Delta Work nearer to the time, and although you could argue connections have worked his runs this season to get him a little lower in the weights for this, he could be a shade vulnerable to a horse that might do well in this sphere.
Homegrown horses do not have a good record in this race, but statistics are there to be broken, and I think Latenightpass could be just the horse to do so.
Dan Skelton (and Tom Ellis when he goes back point to pointing) has done very well with this horse, winning the Fox Hunters Chase at Aintree in 2022, and he has since backed that up by coming 2nd in the November Cross Country Chase, only beaten a length and a quarter by Foxy Jacks, before going on to land the December Cross Country Chase at Cheltenham in some style.
He was very well fancied that day, sent off the 3/1 favourite in the end, and he was kept at the rear throughout before leading two out and staying on superbly to go clear in the closing stages, surging up the Cheltenham Hill to win by a little over four lengths.
The form of that race could be a shade questionable, but Latenightpass won it hands down, and although it would take by far a career-best to land the Cross Country Chase at the Festival, he is still improving enough to beat these, with the main ones at the market either on recovery missions or still learning their trades in this sphere.
As mentioned we do not have a good record in this race, but Latenightpass has looked a revelation for us in these types of races, and if connections bite the bullet and go for this race then hsi current odds could well shorten significantly .
He does have an entry in a Grade 2 novice hurdle this weekend at Haydock, which seems slightly strange, but we shall see what unfolds nearer to the time.
- Selection - Latenightpass (10/1 Generally)
4.50pm - Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Challenge Cup Handicap Chase
Trainer Record (Past 20 years)
- Paul Nicholls - 36 runners, 4 winners and 3 places
- Nicky Henderson - 40 runners, 2 winners and 10 places
- Jonjo O'Neill - 14 runners, 1 winner and 2 places
- Alan King - 14 runners, 1 winner and 2 places
- Henry De Bromhead - 11 runners with 1 winner
Jockey Record (Past 20 years)
- Kielan Woods - 6 rides with 2 winners and 1 place
- Paddy Brennan - 12 rides with 1 winner and 3 places
- Sam Twiston-Davies - 10 rides with 1 winner
- Nick Scholfield - 4 rides with 1 winner
- Darragh O'Keeffe - 3 rides with 1 winner
Last 10 winners of The Grand Annual
- Savello - Anthony Martin & Davy Russell (2014)
- Next Sensation - Michael Scudamore & Tom Scudamore (2015)
- Solar Impulse - Paul Nicholls & Sam Twiston-Davies (2016)
- Rock The World - Jessie Harrington & Robbie Power (2017)
- Le Prezien - Paul Nicholls & Barry Geraghty (2018)
- Croco Bay - Ben Case & Kielan Woods (2019)
- Chosen Mate - Gordon Elliott & Davy Russell (2020)
- Sky Pirate - Jonjo O'Neill & Nick Scholfield (2021)
- Global Citizen - Ben Pauling & Kielan Woods (2022)
- Maskada - Henry De Bromhead & Darragh O'Keeffe (2023)
Britain vs Ireland
- Britain - 13 winners and 45 places from 325 runners
- Ireland - 7 winners and 14 places from 85 runners
Ante-post Grand Annual selection:
My Grand Annual selection is a tentative one, but it is trained by Ben Pauling and owned by the Megsons, who had Global Citizen win this contest back in 2022. Therefore it is clearly a winning formula, so Harpers Brook could be the one to side with here and repeat what Global Citizen did two years back.
It is not yet clear whether Harpers Brook will actually go for this race, or step up in trip for another contest, but given the manner in which he won over two miles at Sandown last time, connections might be unwise to swerve the Grand Annual next month.
Ben Pauling's horse has run over trips close to the 3-mile mark, having pulled up in the Ulitma last season, but I feel the trip was too far and everything was happening a little too quickly for him.
Fast forward almost a year on and he is now a 2-mile chase winner at Sandown, and given the stiff nature of Sandown and Cheltenham, the Grand Annual could be the perfect test for this horse at this stage in his career.
Now he can be a little bit of a monkey and has to be ridden a certain way and should not be allowed to hit the front too soon and if he does, he has been known to pull himself up, as was shown at Ascot when looking like he was going to win the race before idling badly down the home straight to be collared close home.
Ben Jones rode him to perfection last time in what was a race full of carnage, and he did state the horse is one that finds nothing off the bridal, so has to be smuggled into the contest perfectly.
He is currently a pretty attractive price, so here's hoping connections go for the race they won two years back with a horse who has a pretty similar profile to the victorious Global Citizen, who was just 2lbs lower than Harpers Brook's current rating.
- Selection - Harpers Brook (20/1 Generally)