TimeformBlog

[b]Timeform run the rule over a quality renewal of the Grade 1 Festival Hurdle at Leopardstown on Thursday...[/b] [b]Gimli's Rock[/b] is a slick hurdler and scored 4 times over timber in 2010, including in Grade 2 at Down Royal. Not been at best this term, though, and faces a stiff task here. [b]Luska Lad[/b] is a tough front runner who held his own at the top level over hurdles in 2010/11, at a variety of trips, and made a satisfactory return at Tipperary in October. Career-best effort needed here, though. [b]Moon Dice[/b] has taken off since being switched to handicaps, winning the ultra-competitive Galway Hurdle in July and a good fourth in Greatwood at Cheltenham last time. This requires quite a bit more. [b]Oscars Well[/b] was an impressive winner of 2 Grade 1 novice...

[b]Paul Nicholls won the Lexus Chase with What A Friend two years ago and is back with Noland, but he will have to be at his very best to compete with the strong home defence headed by Rubi Light and Quito de La Roque...[/b] [b]Cooldine[/b] is without a win since runaway success in 2009 RSA Chase at Cheltenham and has looked a shadow of his former self in 2 starts this term, finding little when push came to shove in tongue tie latest. [b]Follow The Plan[/b] isn't the easiest to catch right, and though he's a very smart chaser on his day, his breakthrough at the top level came in a race that fell apart around him at Punchestown last May. Others preferred. [b]Joncol[/b] was a dual Grade 1 winner in 2009/10 and run with credit at that level several times since, most recently when...

The Irish Hennessy meeting at Leopardstown is the last stepping stone before the Cheltenham Festival for many leading ante-post fancies from across the Irish Sea and the four Grade 1 events on the card all promise to be high-class renewals. The defection of Pandorama means that the result of the Hennessy itself is unlikely to have much of an impact on the current Gold Cup market, but the absence of Noel Meade's stable star has made this contest much more interesting from a betting point of view. Unexposed British raider Pride of Dulcote is the one that has the potential to shake up the Gold Cup betting the most, with many people seeing Paul Nicholls' progressive second-season chaser as a dark horse for the Blue Riband event in March. However, the form of his narrow win over Punchestowns...

[b]The Flat season continues to wind down, but there are still good meetings on the level this weekend at Leopardstown and Newmarket, while over jumps the action continues to hot up, with competitive racing on both sides of the Irish Sea...[/b] Saturday's most prestigious race either on the Flat or over jumps is the Grade 2 [b]Charlie Hall Chase[/b] (15:25) at Wetherby. The field includes two previous winners of the race in Ollie Magern and Deep Purple, though Tom George's top-class chaser Nacarat sets the standard judged on the form he showed when runner-up under a welter burden in last season's Racing Post Chase at Kempton. There is no shortage of quality on the rest of the card at Wetherby, which includes the Grade 2 West Yorkshire Hurdle (14:50) over twenty-five furlongs. There...