most impressive cheltenham form so far this season

Aegan Dawn was as easy as Dunguib in the Bumper....but what next? big step up at a skinny price in the LB Hurdle

easy MENORAH could quite possibly be the best hurdler ive seen

aegan dawn was far easier than Dunguib

I was very impressed by the extremely well handicapped Grands Crus beating another well handicapped horse in For Non Stop, in a race which will produce a few more handicap winners.

Alvarado when did you start watching racing last weekend?

Alvarado....your mental posts are too numerous to mention but your 'MENORAH could quite possibly be the best hurdler ive seen' quote tops the lot. Unless of course you've only been following racing for a week or two; and I accept that there is every chance of that!!

Yet you state Menorah as possibly being the best you've ever seen. You can't have seen horses such as See You Then, Istebraq, Hardy Eustice, Binocular, Alderbrook, Kribensis......and about 200 others I presume.

alvarado turned 18 on sep 20th 2010. FACT.

most impressive for me would be time for rupert too, natural jumper, massive engine.

Master Minded - Champion Chase

Time for Rupert, for the reasons others have already mentioned.

Woolcombe Folly for an excellent weight conceding ride that makes for good comparison on the clock with Master Minded's good run the same day.

Tanks for That - could be very interesting in one of the Festival handicaps if protecting his current mark until then. If Woolcombe Folly is now deservedly rated 169, arguably Tanks for That may be quite well treated on a mark of 142. Taking account of the weight he was receiving from the winner and the distance beaten in a truly run race, a mark a few pounds higher might not be an unrealistic measure of where the horse stands currently. Consigliere was a close third in the Johnny Henderson last March off 145. Running off 148 on Saturday, he was beaten a country mile by Tanks for That off 135 (may have been beaten too far to have run his race, possibly, but he is generally a reasonably consistent performer with proven Cheltenham form).

Master Minded, both runs this season he has been brilliant. He will win the CC hard on the snaff if he repeats this form.

menorah would destroy HF too quick for him. people on here knocking menorah left right and centre what about this hurricane fly

1.never been to cheltenham before
2.never raced on genuine good ground
3.never been seen in a fast run race
4.only horse hes beaten of note are solwhit/go native which on line through binocular leave him about a stone to find

I suspected this might polarise opinion...some interesting angles. The think I love about December apart from Christmas is you have so much hope....time will tell but still Menorah for me. I dont think we should compare to the quite recent greats yet!

FFT, Your not far wrong about Poquelin, that was a great performance at the weekend

Indeed abbott, especially considering the regard that Great Endeavour seems to be held in

Can't knock Menorah's form either,

Grands Crus was impressive. Has, and will go on to bigger and better things

Aegean Dawn's win was facile, but essentially was a handicap off 114. Not to say he isn't going places either but still...

Did like Mad MAx for this or the GC before his two runs this season, but afraid i'm with the "he doesn't get up the hill" group now

Tranquil Sea has never done it for me. Zaarito might be of interest

I have French Opera down as Nicky's number one QM hope.

As for Max I guess he could go for that race Kalahari King won last year?

Would probably bypass the festival and go to Aintree, but not sure connections would think the same!

Alvarado.    Fair play for fighting your corner, regarding Menorah.
But, you really show Istabraq disrespect, if you consider the Hobbs gelding it's superior at this stage.

Agree about Menorah. He has done nothing to suggest he is top class yet. He beat 2 4yo novices on Saturday and one was giving him weight! The most telling form so far was shown by Big Bucks. Cruised home like he usually does despite a chnge of rider and very hard to put up a credible danger apart from Peddlers Cross and he seems unlikely to go to 3 miles. I am a big Woolcombe Folly fan and his win in a faster time than Master Minded was also impressive. Interesting that Paul Nicholls seemed to rate Tataniano up with both of them.