Through the card tips at the Cheltenham Festival on Friday 17th March
The Gold Cup headlines another stacked card at Cheltenham
Lossiemouth, Bravemansgame and Allegorie De Vassy feature in our selections
Expired
Lossiemouth winning at Fairyhouse. (Getty)
The biggest day in National Hunt racing has finally arrived. It's Gold Cup day at the Cheltenham Festival!
The most prestigious race in the sport headlines another excellent card on the final day of the Festival. Along with the Gold Cup, viewers will enjoy two more Grade Ones, the Grade Two Mares' Chase, the Hunters' Chase and two competitive handicaps.
Since Paul Townend was confirmed in the saddle, LOSSIEMOUTH has moved back above Blood Destiny to the head of the Triumph Hurdle betting.
Willie Mullins' mare looked superb when winning a Grade Three at Fairyhouse on her Irish debut and blitzed Gala Marceau when they met in a Grade One at Leopardstown over Christmas. Gala Marceau managed to get one over on Lossiemouth at the Dublin Racing Festival, but the favourite was badly hampered at a crucial stage that day and did well just to fight her way back into contention.
Mullins' grey won on bottomless ground as a three-year-old in France last April and both of her victories earlier this season came on soft. I am a fan of Bloody Destiny, who's could be a monster over longer trips in the years to come, but for me, Lossiemouth is the most likely winner of this year's Triumph.
Willie Mullins usually sends one of his best novices to the County Hurdle and I'd be surprised if Hunters Yarn wasn't backed into favouritism. Unlike Saint Roi and State Man, who were smaller and more nimble, Hunters Yarn is a lovely big chaser in the making and he might not be suited by the hustle and bustle of the County.
The progressive novice I like is Gavin Cromwell's PATH D'OROUX, who thrashed some decent rivals when winning a maiden at Galway back in October.
Following a couple of defeats in Grade One company, Gavin Cromwell's six-year-old got back on-track with an impressive penalty-carrying victory in an incident-packed race at Navan in January. Cromwell has had Path D'oroux laid out for the County Hurdle since then and he'll be delighted by the state of the ground at Cheltenham.
At a longer price, I'll chance my arm with PETIT TONNERRE, who's won three of his four starts on ground described as soft or worse.
Jonjo O'Neill has been trying to get Petit Tonnerre to stay two-and-a-half miles this season. Although he has run well in defeat on a number of occasions, O'Neill's five-year-old has never quite seen out that distance. A quickly-run race over two miles should be ideal for Petit Tonnerre and Jonjo Jnr's mount is handicapped well enough to run a huge race.
County Hurdle 2023 Tip 1 - Path D'oroux each-way
County Hurdle 2023 Tip 2 - Petit Tonnerre each-way
A capacity field of 20 has been confirmed for this Grade One and practically every runner looks worthy of consideration. Given the open, unpredictable nature of the Albert Bartlett, I'm going to back two at each-way prices.
Experience can be vital in this gruelling contest and LETSBECLEARABOUTIT has plenty of that. Gavin Cromwell's eight-year-old ran five times in top-quality bumpers and, after spending a year out injured, has run four times over hurdles so far.
Having placed behind American Mike, Hiddenvalley Lake and Favori De Champdou, Letsbeclearaboutit got off the mark over hurdles with a 22-length demolition job in a heavy ground maiden at Punchestown. Keith Donoghue's mount is a consistent, hardy sort, who'll relish testing ground conditions.
At the other end of the scale, I'll bank on SEARCH FOR GLORY'S raw talent seeing him through. An impressive winner of a point-to-point, Gordon Elliott's recruit stayed on to finish third behind Good Land in a maiden at Leopardstown over Christmas, where he was visibly outpaced on quick ground.
Monty's Star and Hiddenvalley Lake managed to beat Search For Glory last time out at Clonmel, but Davy Russell's mount hit the line hard back in third to enhance his growing reputation. He may still be a maiden over hurdles, but Search For Glory is a young, improving horse, who boasts Graded experience and will have no trouble seeing out this trip.
Albert Bartlett 2023 Tip 1 - Letsbeclearaboutit each-way
Albert Bartlett 2023 Tip 2 - Search For Glory each-way
I pinned my colours to BRAVEMANSGAME back in January, as I felt that Paul Nicholls' runner was being unfairly overlooked.
On Racing Post Ratings, Bravemansgame's win in the King George is the best piece of form in this race. Nicholls' eight-year-old has the perfect profile for the Gold Cup and the fact that Harry Cobden's mount has only run once around Cheltenham doesn't worry me.
What does concern me is the ground. Cobden told ITV last weekend that Bravemansgame actually wants it soft and that was the going description when he bolted up in the King George. I'm not about to desert Bravemansgame, but I would be more confident if this race was being run in less testing conditions.
Proven stamina and the ability to handle very soft ground will be vital on Friday - if the Met Office forecast is to be believed. Protektorat will relish every drop of rain that falls in the build-up to Friday's feature. So will ROYALE PAGAILLE, who'll be making his third appearance in the Gold Cup on Friday.
Venetia Williams' nine-year-old was an unbeaten novice when he took part in his first Gold Cup two years ago and his jumping simply didn't stand up to the test. Charlie Deutsch's mount was much more fluent 12 months ago and, although he could do nothing to repel A Plus Tard, Royale Pagaille stayed on valiantly to finish just three lengths adrift of runner-up, Minella Indo.
On his only outing of this season, Williams' star finished a fortunate second in the King George, which was an excellent run considering Kempton would hardly be his ideal track. A soft ground Gold Cup is what Royale Pagaille has been crying out for and I'll be having a fanciful each-way punt at 50/1.
Gold Cup 2023 Tip 1 - Bravemansgame
Gold Cup 2023 Tip 2 - Royale Pagaille each-way
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David Christie came within a whisker of winning the amateur's Gold Cup last year, when Winged Leader was nabbed on the line by Billaway. Christie will send VAUCELET to Cheltenham this year, having watched his eight-year-old win the Hunters' Chase final at Stratford the last two seasons.
Vaucelet might have beaten Billaway at Punchestown last spring, had he not made a telling mistake at the last. Barry O'Neill's mount managed to win on his prep-run for Cheltenham, despite Christie saying his runner was only half-fit. Christie will have the favourite cherry ripe for Gold Cup day and there's no doubting that Vaucelet is a stronger stayer than Winged Leader. If he goes on the ground, Vaucelet should be hard to beat in the Hunters' Chase.
At a much longer price, I'll have an each-way punt on LE MALIN for the father son duo of Sean and Noel McParlan.
A two-time winner over hurdles in France in 2018/19, Le Malin was only beaten a length by Vaucelet on his return from a 1215-day lay-off back in October. Having finished a close second behind Winged Leader and Billaway at the start of the season, McParlan's charge booked his trip to Cheltenham with a superb 22-length victory in a point-to-point at Lisronagh in February. Le Malin has been running well all season and soft ground could see this talented nine-year-old to best effect.
The two most obvious winners of this contest are clearly the novices at the head of the market and there's no doubt in my mind that ALLEGORIE DE VASSY has more natural ability than Impervious.
Allegorie De Vassy reminds me a lot of Colreevy, who beat Elimay in 2021 Mares' Chase. Like her former stablemate, Allegorie De Vassy has a tendency to jump right, but that didn't stop Colreevy from winning at the Cheltenham Festival before going on to defeat Monkfish and Envoi Allen at Punchestown.
Paul Townend's mount hacked up on heavy ground on her first start over fences, where she jumped nicely until a couple of sticky jumps down the straight. At Thurles last time out, a bad mistake at the first put Allegorie De Vassy a little out of sync, but that didn't stop the favourite from thrashing a future Listed winner in Brides Hill by 19 lengths.
I think Allegorie De Vassy is every bit as talented as Colreevy and, at the age of just six, she remains open to plenty of improvement. If Willie Mullins' mare doesn't win a Grade One over fences at some stage of her career, I'll be very disappointed.
Willie Mullins has overlooked his usual amateur jockeys to book Michael O'Sullivan for the ride on Spanish Harlem. I haven't been impressed with the favourite's jumping this season, though, and would much rather side with Gordon Elliott's first-string COOL SURVIVOR.
Cool Survivor has only been rated one pound higher than stablemate Imagine, despite the fact that he's actually won a Listed race and finished fourth in a Grade One last time out. Sam Ewing comes in for the ride and Cool Survivor could be the most talented horse in this race.
Another Martin Pipe runner I'm very keen on is IROKO, who I backed for the Martin Pipe at 20/1 at the ante-post stage.
Oliver Greenall & Josh Guerriero's star finished fourth in a couple of top juvenile races last season and has been victorious on both his starts at Wetherby this term. Greenall has said that Iroko needs soft ground, so I'm confident that this progressive five-year-old will deal with the going on day four of the Cheltenham Festival.
