TimeformBlog

[b]Keith Melrose gives his thoughts on this weekend's Fighting Fifth at Newcastle, just don't ask him whether he thinks the meeting will beat the weather![/b] There are seemingly countless trials for the Champion Hurdle these days, but the Fighting Fifth is the first British Grade 1 for two-mile hurdlers and as such often the first proper indicator of how the division is shaping up. It's fitting, then, that reigning champion [b]Binocular[/b] should make his reappearance in the race. Nicky Henderson's six-year-old suffered a disjointed campaign last season, which kicked off with defeat at odds on in this race, before finally getting it right in March when storming to success at Cheltenham. That win belatedly proved Binocular a top-class performer, a rare commodity among hurdlers over...

[b]Gregg Taylor evaluates the performance of Timeform's top-rated chaser, along with the other big races from the weekend.[/b] [b]Kauto Star[/b] (c191) made a pleasing return to action when taking the JNwine.com Champion Chase by four lengths from [b]Sizing Europe[/b] (c162). The outstanding chaser of his generation needed only to run to a bare figure of 166 to notch a fourteenth success at Grade 1 level, showing no ill effects from his fall in the Cheltenham Gold Cup as he jumped impeccably close to the steady pace. The performance should set up him nicely to run closer to his best in his next objective, whether that be running off a mark of 190 in the [b]Hennessy[/b] later in the month or attempting to record an unprecedented fifth victory in the [b]King George[/b]. Both his nearest...

[b]The Open Meeting at Cheltenham this weekend runs to three days, with the highlight on the Sunday being the Greatwood Handicap Hurdle. Timeform look at the main protagonists...[/b] Rewind a year and [b]Khyber Kim[/b] was heading to Prestbury Park as a relatively unconsidered (not in Timeform Horses to Follow Extra, by the way) 20/1 shot for the [b]Greatwood Handicap Hurdle[/b] at the Open Meeting at Cheltenham. Come the day, however, Nigel Twiston-Davies' Khyber Kim (9/1) wasn't for beating and ran out an impressive two-length winner. Khyber Kim returned to Cheltenham a month later to land the International (beat Celestial Halo), before going on to finish second in the [b]Champion Hurdle[/b] in March, beaten 3½ lengths by Binocular. The Greatwood has a mixed record as a ...