Koi-what wins the foxhunter?

No guidance on winners, but despite two good wins from Gilgamboa, avoid as he is not qualified and cannot run in it.

Burning Ambition



Currently still available at 8/1 - one of the bets of the festival.

I agree with MoM on Burning Ambition but haven't seen any info to suggest he is definitely coming over for The Festival. Anyone know more than me on this ?

Just as a follow up and if anyone interested Burning Ambition is best priced 8/1 and with one of the NRNB bookies. I've gone in. If he comes over he surely must go very close in this. Looks a very good horse.

Got little bet 12/1 appropriately named Foxrock

Might have a chance

I will be piling on Virak if he gets qualified-but not before. Has a lot of class and speed and looked back to his old self in his recent hunter debut.

Burning Ambition looks the one but will he travel over?

Maybe Lord Windermere .

Lord Windermere is entered in the Grand National and will not be allowed to run in both. The Grand National weights will be unveiled next week.

I followed the hype on here and backed Burning Ambition when he was 8/1 NRNB.

Looks like we'll really find out how good he is, as he's been entered into a Hunter Chase at Punchestown on Sunday with the best Irish hunter chasers around Foxrock, Gilgamboa, Balnaslow and some other reasonable entries.

Burning Ambition ran well to finish second behind Gilgamboa at Punchestown earlier today and coming to the last he briefly looked as if he'd win the race. On that evidence I'm not convinced he'll get up the Cheltenham hill at the end of 3m 2f and can't understand why he's generally been shortened in the betting to 5/1 favourite. (That said, it looks a weak event this year.)

Virak was entered at Lingfield (but that is off) and at Kelso along with Pacha de Polder. Will they both run if it is on?

Think Virak is heading to the Haydock race that offers the bonuses if you win that race then any of the main Festivals.

so long as he runs somewhere and qualifies.

Yeah sure that will be the plan sage.

Hope so. I decided to take 17.5 Virak yesterday which will shorten if he wins and gets qualified this week.

Quite like Sky bet's special of Paul Nicholls to train the winner of the Foxhunters at 3/1.. just a shame I can't get anything other than peanuts on with them.

Wonderful Charm was well backed last year and personally I could see him going off around 4/1 fav. You could then have Virak, Caid du Berlais and Pacha du Polder running for you as well. Take Burning Ambition out (who I dont think will come up the hill), and you could potentially have 4 of the first 5 in the betting.

Think this will be a race he targets as he no longer has the ammo for the Graded races.

CCM Just noticed they are now offering 5/1!!!

I am already on at 3/1 but  have gone in again

Wonderful Charm will be 5/1 or less on the day ( it's SP was 7/2 last year when it finished 2nd to another Nicholls runner)

He could have 5 running in it this year, all with good chances

5/1 is a gift

Me too bigH. Cant quite believe the price!!

Seems really odd they pushed it out. Just wish they'd take a decent bet

Unioniste is still a possible for this too...

Fingers crossed that Virak is qualified by the end of play today.

Virak won, how do you qualify? just win a HC?

First or second in 2 HC or win 2 ptp. Virak had quite a hard race on the terrible Haydock ground though which is a big worry.

Hi All,

Can Caid Du Berlias run in this having won the Paddy Power in 2014?

I believe the qualifying criteria only goes back 2 seasons so that win will not affect Caid Du Berlais running. GL

Cheers

Morning Assembly would be an intriguing runner if they can qualify it in time. 16/1 nrnb.

Placed in the 2016 Ultima and 2014 RSA.

Seen a few bob floating about today for that 1

Paddy power is grade 3 ffs

Well you can probably strike a line through Pacha Du Polder's chances if he turns up in the race after his disappointing run at Doncaster earlier today. Even allowing for the fact that he wasn't fully wound up, he looked a shadow of the horse that won the Foxhunter last year. No idea why Nicholls thought the completely useless Miss H C Tucker was deserving of the ride but Pacha won't be winning much if she gets to keep the ride in future races.

It's very significant that the Waley-Cohens have bought into Wonderful Charm.  He'd have won the Foxhunter last year if Katie Walsh hadn't given the horse too much to do and I expect him to receive a better ride from Sam W-C this year.

Pacha will struggle to qualify now-needs 2 more runs in hunter chase or PTP in 3 weeks.

Nicholls Foxhunter Bookings
Virak - Lorcan Williams,
Wonderful Charm - Sam Waley-Cohen,
Pacha Du Polder - Harriet Tucker,
Unioniste - David Maxwell

Does anyone know why Gilgamboa is not eligible to run in this? He's been beaten in both his PTPs but won each of his 3 hunter chases.

The conditions of the race as as follows: For 5yo+ which, since October 1, 2015, and before February 26, 2018, have been placed first or second on two occasions in a hunters' chase in Great Britain or Ireland or have won two Open chases at point-to-point Meetings (i.e. Gentlemens, Ladies or Mixed Open Races) in Great Britain or Ireland or have won one Open chase at a point-to-point meeting in Great Britain or Ireland and have been placed first or second in a hunters' chase.

Unioniste seems to have a similar profile to Gilgamboa having also competed in 3 hunter chases. I recall last year that Foxrock was ineligible to run at Cheltenham - presumably for the same reason that Gilgamboa is ineligible this year - but is qualified this year.

I think that like Foxrock, Gilgamboa is actually over qualified for the race.

TT - Overqualified in what sense? I wonder if in the fine print of the conditions there's a cap on prize money won during the qualification period?

That seems to be the only explanation that I can come up with as to why Unioniste qualifies but Gilgamboa doesn't.

It seems that the change in rules doesnt help him, but he will be eligible next year, depending on what he runs in between now and then I presume.

Grade 1-winning chaser Gilgamboa is set to join the point-to-pointing ranks, with Enda Bolger intending to run his 159-rated chaser in an open event at Castletown-Geoghegan on Sunday.

The nine-year-old, who won the Ryanair Gold Cup Novice Chase in 2015 and finished fourth in the 2016 Grand National, was last seen when brought down three fences from home in the Grade 2 Hilly Way Chase at Cork in December, having been sent off 9-2 to beat Douvan.

Bolger said: "He won't be eligible for the Foxhunter at Cheltenham next March as he's over-qualified, similar to Foxrock last year. We'll start off on Sunday and begin to plan away from there."

Gilgamboa this year and Foxrock last year both caught out by the following rule: "horses who have won a Class 1 or 2 chase in the 19 months before January 1, or been placed in a Grade 1 or 2 in the 15 months before, will be excluded".