Think it's rated around 138 now,last year's winner was about the same I think !

Eastlake for the Grand Annual.

Old Guard, Fred Winter

Alan Kings got another horse that won at Plumpton and going for the Cheltenham bonus,won yesterday.
Pain au Chocolat.

You're getting ahead of yourself Foyles. Still 5 weeks left.

yeah i don't mind putting one up in the acca ! first we need to sort out suitable races and as the gold cup has an open and each way friendly look about it could be a starting point !

Roger when that horse was 2nd in the Fred winter I would have won 8 grand,instead won just over 1,gives me nightmares that horse,definitely one to keep an eye on !

Fair enough.

But if it does......that's all I'm saying!

gi mac are you up for picking one for the e.w acca  multi plunge  nearer the time ? I will put one up ,

YEAH IF YOU ARE HAPPY WORKING ON THE HANDICAP PLUNGE HORSE THEN THATS FINE WAS THINKING A JURY OR 4 OR 5  TO INCLUDE ROGER THE BUTLER YOU AND 2 OR 3 MORE VOLENTEERS WILL BE IDEAL  WILL INTENSIFY THE THREAD IN THE NEXT WEEK AND DRUM UP MORE  INTEREST !

Get a few people on it, a little committee, working via pm and a time it will be announced live on this fred.

How about Foyles, GI MAC & roger? 3 is a decent number, not too many, not too few. Maybe make it 4 if there's someone else desperate to have an imput?

Sorry but I'm out this year.

Happy to follow whatever anyone else puts up though

This seems to be the forgotten thread now but I'm sure there will be plenty of interest once it's sorted, personally I think Foyles should organise otherwise it will just fall flat, my vote for the panel are Wellchief (as advised earlier) Marychain whose form on the football is nothing short of extraordinary and cv Byrne for the Irish form, I've got one for the Neptune at double figures but have saddled enough losers after 30 festivals to last a lifetime, let's drive this forward my only preference is to post on the Sunday night or early Monday otherwise I will be on my way and miss out on the best prices as mentioned earlier perhaps an each way treble/ Yankee and a coup in one of the championship races.

X2

Go for 66/1 chances then

Right guys my initial thinking on an each way treble are below.  Please feel free to chip in if you disagree or if I’ve got any completely wrong.  I’ll be putting this treble on anyway, so I thought it can be used as a plunge on if needed.

By the way, where I have put negatives against my selection’s rivals, that is in no way writing them off or saying they can’t win.  It’s more my thoughts on why I won’t back them.

As I said above, I won’t be on here from Thursday 6th onwards to post anything.

1. Blaklion 14/1 (10/1 nrnb).  I think he is a huge price for the Albert Bartlett.  Windsor Park would be a big danger if he turns up, but his participation is only 50/50 at the moment.

Black Hercules is the current favourite who is drifting a bit in price.  He hasn’t been seen since the start of December, which has to be a worry.  Plus, you have to think about what he has beat?  He’s won a maiden hurdle over 2m, so will have no relevance in the Albert Bartlett, and a G3 3 mile hurdle on Heavy, and that race, from only a few runs, has yet to produce a winner since.  I backed him myself a while ago at 10’s but have since layed that off.

No More Heroes looked very good against Shaneshill, but you have to worry about the predicted better ground.  You have to ask the question as to whether all was well with Shaneshill in that race, as he hasn’t been seen since.  No More Heroes disappointed last time out when sent off a solid favourite, although to be fair that looks a very strong race on paper.

Value at Risk ran well for a long way on trials day last time out.  He is another one where the ground could be an issue, as they have talked all year about being a chaser next year who likes soft ground.  Also, going into the unknown trip wise too and Vago Collonges was beaten yesterday.

That leaves Blaklion, who has ran well at Cheltenham twice this year who appreciated the step up in trip to 3 miles.  He has solid form with Parlour Games, who is favourite for the Neptune, and Blaklion probably ran against him over a trip short of his best.

His loss last time, was part down to jockey error imo.  I thought they went for home far too early and began racing miles from home.  He was mugged on the line by Caracci Apache, but I’d be confident in him reversing that form.

2. Road to Riches (9/1).  I am a massive Conti fan, and I think he’ll take the world of beating in the Gold Cup, but as I realise this is a forum choice and a lot want to look elsewhere and I can accept that.

Outside of Conti, for me, Road to Riches is a decent bit clear of the rest.  He has improved a lot this season, and even running Sizing Europe to a head of a trip much too short was a good season opener, and Rocky Creek proved yesterday that he is a very good yardstick, and was beaten out of site by RTR at Down Royal.

Last time out in the Lexus, he had half of the current Gold Cup field behind him, on ground that he wouldn’t like – he is one who will definitely appreciate the better ground.

Yet to run at Cheltenham, but I cannot hold that as a negative, because you have to give benefit of the doubt as we don’t have anything to go on as to whether he’ll like it or not.  There are very few doubts about his stamina too.

Many Clouds is one I respect, as his Hennessey win and Argento wins were no fluke – he was one I underestimated and has excellent form.  However, the better ground will be against him in my opinion, but he is one that commands a lot of respect though.

Others in the line up like Carlingford Lough need to improve imo, as a 1 length win over Foxrock is not Gold Cup winning form imo, and after 17 chases, I’m not sure how much more improvement there is to come.  Holywell hasn’t really had a season, and I would want to see more from him to warrant his current price; even a good place run in G1 non novice company.

There’s the one-two from last year’s race coming back again, but I just cannot have either of them sorry.  Lord Windermere put up an improved performance last time, but was still beaten a good distance by Carlingford Lough, and On His Own is now an 11 year old.

There are second season novices like Smad Place, who disappointed me in the Hennessey, and couldn’t win the Argento receiving the weight.  I think this will come a year too soon Djakadam, who needs to step up again based on his latest handicap win.

3. Beltor (10/1) (8/1 nrnb).  Was visually very very impressive yesterday.  I think they will run in the Triumph as he is on a massive upward curve.  The way he pulled through the race, and then to take off after the final flight shows a huge engine.

Peace and Co is obviously the one to beat, but when you look at Bivouac, Beltor and Peace and Co beat him almost exactly the same distance, but Beltor did it a lot easier, and is around 4 times the price.

If this was a Henderson or a Nicholls horse, he’d be a lot shorter than he is right now.  We know the record of recent Adonis winners in the Triumph is excellent, and a fast pace on good ground will help him settle in behind; I don’t think he has to front run like Peace and Co.

You never know, it could have just been a one off freak performance, but on the evidence of yesterday, he has to be a good thing at 10/1, even in a race with as much depth as this.

However, as I type this now, Kalkir is absolutely friendless in the Triumph market, and is out to 25/1, and there is nothing at all waiting to back Petite Parissience, so are there doubts about those two??

So there you go, plunge or no plunge, this is my each way treble for the festival.  Antepost odds are 1650/1 for the win, and 50/1 for the place  Non Runner no Bet odds are 891/1, so almost half, so I'll be taking these prices now.

Cheers

You also run the risk of non-runners. I know that it's now possible to bet NRNB but it's not much fun if we end up with two out of three running. We don't even know what the ground will be like or what the make-up of some of these races will be at the moment...

A plunge should be all of us backing one horse or a double etc that we can all cheer on and the forum can collectively win some money.

I thought an antepost treble round Christmas that we could all follow the process of was a good idea.

The idea of secretly picking one so it doesnt leak out and then somehow trying to affect the market is laughable.

There will be no more than 20 people on here backing it against a backdrop of millions and millions of pounds bet. Wouldn't even scratch the surface.

Few more than 20 last year as I recall?

Fair do's mate. I won't be in this years because I won't be here, but I like the idea of doing, not so much a plunge, but a couple of long shots a few months before hand that we can all cheer on.

Eg quite a lot had Faugheen at double figure prices last year, or if we'd all had a speculative punt on UDS this year when he was 7's before Christmas.

I think there is more chance of upsetting the antepost market than the day of the race, because of the much smaller numbers involved.

Anyways, we all have different views, but good luck with whatever you pick.