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Cheltenham Festival

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FOYLESWAR
26 Feb 11 21:13
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Date Joined: 09 Jan 11
| Topic/replies: 33,537 | Blogger: FOYLESWAR's blog
i have had another in depth look at the champion  hurdle and the race is no clearer to me now as it was 4-5 weeks ago ,all the main trials are over and to me there is no stand out horse this year .
there are a lot of pluses and negatives about the whole field ,first stop  binocular an impressive winner last year and this race has been his target all year unfortunatly for him you can say that for most of the field .
you can probably disregard his performances this season as he  has only had one race run to suit him when beating overturn well , he has run well for the last 3 years at the festival and probably is the one to beat but although an impressive winner last year i cant recall many subsequent winners from the champion hurdle or the sandown hurdle where he beat ruthenoise .
and at around 7/2 he is not for me as i think this years champion hurdle is a much stronger race .
next we have possibly the most interesting horse in the field  in hurricane fly, his form is hard to asses as he has been beating the best that ireland can offer including solwhit and co.
if he takes to cheltenham then he is a massive danger to all and in truth a likely winner but we dont know how he will take to the hurly- burly of a race run at breakneck pace, he has also shown a  tendancy to jump out to the left in 1 or 2 of his hurdle wins this year , he could well cruise through the race and come there on the bridal coming to the last and sprint away but although 5/1 is a fair price i cant see him getting much bigger as i think he will have the support of the many irish at the festival ...
then there is menorah winner of the supreme last year with dunguib and oscar whisky a few lengths behind ,he looks to have improved this year putting up a good performance off 11.12 lb in the greatwood hurdle at chelt,beating bothy conceeding lumps of weight in soft going ,and then showing a smart turn of foot to beat the smart novice cue card convincingly with silviniaco conte behind ,menorah wont shirk if it comes to a head to head battle all the way to the line he is also around the 5/1 mark .
peddlers cross is another festival winner beating some usefull rivals last year over a longer distance he showed he can mix it with the best over 2 miles when beating starluck and binocular in the fighting fifth hurdle at newcastle ,i just wonder if he will be vulnerable to a more speedy type ....
oscar whiskey has won his 2 races well and looks to have improved from last year he hasnt got too much ground to make up on menorah or dunguib and he may have room for more improvement as he has not had hard races this season he is a fair price at 14s but i wonder if he will prove better over further than 2 miles .
then we have dunguib woose jumping seems to have improved this year but he only won 4 runner race albeit from a usefull yardstick i think he needs to find a bit more but  that is possible ,at 14s his price is about right .
alan kings mille chief has won his 2 races this season winning a handicap off of a big weight , and also winning the kingwell hurdle in a close finish beating celestial halo with silvinaco conti behind he also needs to improve a few pounds on that but he is lightly raced and it is possible but at 14s i think there is better value elsewhere .
the one that i like at a massive price is willie mullins thousand stars i put this one up a few weeks ago on c.v byrnes exellent champoin hurdle thread .thousand stars improved all last season winning a  17k naas hcap hurdle in impressive style by 8 lengths off a mark he then won a 19k fairyhouse  handicap off a much higher mark of 125ridden by ruby he led after the last and showed a fine turn of foot in heavy ground, he then ran in a 53k handicap hurdle at leopardstown and finished about 15 lnths behind puyol ,but imo he was given too much daylight and raced on the outside of the field ,i think he is better covered up .he then won the county hurdle at the festival in good style off amark of 134 by 3lengths beating arcalis showing a good attitude ridden by katie walsh .he then ran a really good race in the irish champion hurdle on good ground at punchestown beaten into 3rd 2and a quarter lengths behind stable companion hurricane fly  who was a much fresher horse ,and solwhit with dunguib and other good horses behind . he has been behind hurricane fly and solwhit on heavy and very soft ground in 2  small field races in ireland this season on ...the first he was beaten about 5 lengths on very soft ground ,and at leopardstown he made the running untill collared before the last flight and beaten about 5 1/2 lengths .for one who is proven at the festival and with likly good/soft ground seeming to suit i think he is massivley overpriced at 66/1 at corals  and he was aound 75s on betfair  and i can see him starting around 25s on the day and he must rate a good each way bet paying approx 16 a place ....not saying he will win but he could suprise a few and willie mullins said he deserves to be mixing it with the best ...........katie walsh could make history if as likley she rides this one at chelt as i cant remember a female riding in the champion hurdle although the memory is not as good as it was age catching up with me ........

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Replies: 12
By:
Ibrahima Sonko
When: 26 Feb 11 21:15
probably a good post.
By:
snaafi dancer
When: 26 Feb 11 21:38
i'm wondering if they dump townend off hurricane for ruby might they give him the consolation of 1000 stars ?
By:
FOYLESWAR
When: 26 Feb 11 21:49
yeeah i didnt think of that snaafi , she is a very good jockey imo and i would be quite happy if she kept the ride as she has won on the horse at cheltenham
By:
FOYLESWAR
When: 26 Feb 11 22:54
snaafi or could townend keep the h.fly ride (unlikely i know ) and ruby on 1,000 stars ?
By:
Kingmambo
When: 26 Feb 11 23:34
my eyes hurt.
By:
revedesivola
When: 26 Feb 11 23:42
i think if you look at that paragraph long enough you can see a comb
By:
cruise d
When: 27 Feb 11 00:29
my eyes are watering, thanks kingmambo PMSL.

Fair play for selecting one at a bigger price Foyleswar. I've been spending ages trying to split the top 6 and failing so I respect anyone that can come up with a reasonable selection in this.
By:
FOYLESWAR
When: 27 Feb 11 00:49
yeah sorry about the affect of my thread on your eyes everyone ,and cheers cruise d. just think has a better chance than its price suggests .
By:
evra
When: 27 Feb 11 01:10
surely katie walsh will ride thousand stars,she's never done anything wrong on it,in fact she gets on really well with him,i hope the owners remain loyal and let her keep the ride
By:
revedesivola
When: 27 Feb 11 01:11
im sure even if ruby had no ride in the ch, he would let katie on anyhow
By:
evra
When: 27 Feb 11 01:13
well im sure he would on this occasion rev as she gets on very well with the horse
By:
revedesivola
When: 27 Feb 11 01:22
yep, she should stay on the horse either way and id imagine she will
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