Bold statement that one! LOL

I wonder if they'll put him in the Grand National as well?

Connections don't seem to back off from anything.

Jedi Sophie - Bold statement and now Cue Card is Ante Post Fav for the Ryanair after Tizzard says today that they could go there. You heard it here first.

good..

Coneygree - Made of wetabix & huge question mark
Don Cossack - Huge question mark
Cue Card - Already murmurs of the Ryan Air & finally over the hill?
Djakadam- Starting to look a tad exposed and don't really think 3m is his trip
Outlander- Personally can't have at all and wouldn't trust it as far as I can throw it
Valseur Lido- Huge stamina query for me

Probably the inner £5 punter coming out of me now. But with so many of question marks at the head of the market. Im growing increasingly attracted to the juice of the market.  3 stand out for me at a great each way price.

Blaklion (50-1). Relatively small stable & ownership. No contrasting views or ulterior motives- You will more than likely get a run for your dough at least! I know he's run like a crab this year but 3 from 7 at Cheltenham with 2 seconds stands out to me. RSA winners haven't fared too badly in recent year.
Killultagh Vic (50-1) - I have absolutely no idea what the state of play with this, so apologies if its been ruled out for the season or anything. But given the confidence behind it in the RSA and JLT last year, I can't believe its a 50-1 shot if it lines up. The Chronicles of punting Willie ante post though

I feel physically dirty after that but Its not certainly not hard to imagine the head of the market cutting up with injuries and defections to other races

Jb, you put 3 stand outs but only covered 2 of them?

I'm not really interested in having a bet just now but a couple of others of similar ilk - both at 50/1.

Minella Rocco - beat Native River off levels at last season's festival despite arriving there with pretty underwhelming form credentials as a novice chaser so I would n't be overly worried about his efforts thus far this season

Many Clouds - was in the process of beating Minella Rocco pointless at Aintree giving him 5lbs when MR fell at the last. His jumping performances at Aintree earlier this month and at Kelso last season were amongst the best I can recall seeing from any horse in recent years. Despite the fact he is rising 10yo he still seems to be improving following his well documented breathing operation in the summer. I actually would be interested in backing him if I thought connections were going to take the Gold Cup seriously but if he runs at all it will probably be a tune up for the Grand National - also there are only 3 weeks between the 2 races this year whereas there were 4 weeks when he ran in Gold Cup in 2015 before winning the National. If they targeted the Gold Cup, he'd have a great chance of placing at least for me.

I agree with Minella Rocco, not bothered with the ins and outs of his form as he strikes you as an enigma (and a lazy one at that) that is really hard to fathom just what his level is, you hark back to McCoy stating that he was the horse he would miss riding, the disparity in price between he and Native River and hopefully a real strong pace bringing his abundant stamina into play...all things considered he is a decent 40/1 E/W shout.

Probably does tbh, but the price available takes it into account, it's looking more and likely that it will be a thin field and we know that long shots do get placed, he fits the bill nicely, you can deffo see him staying on past horses that have gotten into the race earlier and paid for it.

I really like how Native River won the Hennessy and then the Welsh National, bodes well for this. As i've stated on the Thistlecrack thread i still think he is a big price even at 8s and went in again today. May not be up to beating the hot favourite but getting 2/1 a place is better than 4/5 the win imo.

As far as the Irish are concerned, Outlander may have improved, at 20s he needs another look, a change from what i wrote on that thread the other day but i have had another look and a read of a couple articles published since boxing day and i might come round to a small ew at 20/1 1/4. As for the others though i am not sure. I would have felt better about Djackadam if he got closer in the Lexus or won it. The fact he got shuffled back at a crucial part of the race and ran on again bodes very well but i am holding fire for now on that one.

Coneygree, str8 there if at all? Nay thanks

As for the rest, not sure. I have read the posts and think use are clutching at straws. Minella Rocco surely goes for a handicap? If rocking up in this however, 50/1 might not be a bad shout as surely the outsider will be no bigger than 25s on the day depending of course on what runs (as some too rich to be true owner might run a no hoper) So at least your getting 50% value.

Yes it is hard to see where this one could be competitive in the future am sure jonjo is scratching his head and may well have the Grand National in mind. Off 158 i'd hazard a guess at around the 11st-4ib - 11st 7ib area nbut again who knows with the enigma that is Phil Smith! The first race that sprang to mind for me was the midlands national, he'd be the classiest horse to compete in it but would be top weight and is usually ran in a bog anyways.

I'm not sure if you can run in it again but is there no chance he might rock up in the national hunt chase again and try to win it a 2nd time?

Many Clouds set to have a crack at Gold Cup


THISTLECRACK'S tour de force at Kempton on Boxing Day might have had bookmakers running for cover as they hastily revised their Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup markets, but one trainer refusing to run scared is Oliver Sherwood, who is not ruling stable star Many Clouds out of one or more clashes with jump racing's brightest star.

Sherwood was as impressed as anyone with Thistlecrack's poise and swagger in the King George, but that is not a reason to avoid the Gold Cup favourite, according to the Lambourn trainer, who said there was a "distinct possibility" the pair could meet not only in the BetBright Trial Cotswold Chase at the end of the month but also in the Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup in March.

While the ultimate destination for Many Clouds is the Randox Health Grand National in April, his route there has yet to be finalised and Sherwood is seriously considering a Gold Cup challenge, especially as Many Clouds ran in the race before triumphing in the 2015 National.

"He'll certainly have an entry in the Gold Cup," said Sherwood. "At this stage I'm not going to be saying yea or nay, but the fact is he's going to have an entry.

"Who knows what the weather is going to do and the gap between Cheltenham and Aintree means you can run in both. I see that they mentioned the two races as a possibility for Don Poli, and it could be a distinct possibility. It worked for us two years ago."

The weather will dictate the next outing for Many Clouds, a general 50-1 chance for the Gold Cup and among the 16-1 market leaders for the National after an impressive success at Aintree a month ago. Sherwood's options include the Cotswold Chase on January 28, also the most likely next target for Thistlecrack.

Haydock's Peter Marsh Chase on Saturday fortnight or the Betfair Denman Chase at Newbury on February 11 are the alternatives.

Sherwood added: "The first one to come up is the Haydock race but he'll not race up there if it's bottomless, of that I can assure you. So I'd think the Cotswold Chase or Denman would be favourite."

Of a possible early-year clash with Thistlecrack, he added: "Others might run scared of Thistlecrack and there might be three runners against him in the Cotswold.

"You should never be frightened of one horse, even though he's been very impressive."

Have just availed myself to some 65's with the eye of a decent trade later on in the month when he surely goes 25-30s

Please forgive me for saying but perhaps the Bradstocks ruined the horse by pitching in at the deep end too soon? Or is it a case this horse has always been a fragile sort and so they felt the need to race him in the top race earlier than what would have been ideal

True, one way to look at it. I can't say i wasn't on, but that's after timing, and no one likes anyone posting they have had a successful bet on here after the event do they

Unbelievable, Mullins enters every horse for every race, yet doesn't enter Black Hercules for the Gold Cup. Just Zabana left Ante Post for me.  We live in hope not expectation.

25 with Boyles last night Chief
He is an interesting one and wish I had spotted this before yesterday!!!
Race don't look very deep to me and this one could well improve to be a lively contender imo

All fine mate,nice to see some of the old names still on here.

Looks like BDM has been running over distances too short,and looks a different horse over further.
Could be anything over the Gold Cup distance,and worth a go at the prices imo.
Lets face it if we have NRiver at the price he is,then we can certainly go for a graded performer who is improving for a trip at twice the price!!

Twonky
Just noticed Blaklion has an entry 18th Feb...Grand National trial at Haydock

If BDM is in the picture, then this one is, classier than BDM IMO.

I agree re Champagne West. He's just won Thyestes easily off 154 and look how close Djakadam went after winning the same race off 145! Let's not forget Native River has won 2 hops of 155, neither as comfortable as today and he's 6/1 2nd Fav!!!! Champagne west is a fabulous EW bet.

1 mistake 5 out, apart from that immaculate.