DAY 4
1.30 JCB Triumph Hurdle 2m 1f
Minsk is the favourite for this race, not run all season – unbelievable.
Philip Hobbs said Sadlers Risk runs this Saturday, very happy with him
Nick Williams said Urbain De Sivola would run if ground was on the soft side
Paul Nicholls said Pearl Swan has the best form so far of his horses, but also said Dildar runs this Saturday, against Sadlers Risk
I got the impression he has very high hopes for Dildar
Andrew king liked Grumeti and Pearl Swan
Paul Jones thought Minsk could go off as low at 2-1, as his flat form is far in excess of anything else
Paul Binfield likes Darroun
Paul Nicholls did say he wouldn’t be surprised if Minsk never ran either this weekend or at Cheltenham!
2.05 Vincent O’Brien County Handicap Hurdle 2m 1f
Philip Hobbs said Snap Tie is in good form, he reported this last year but the horse never got in, hasn’t run for two years, so you’d want a very big price, not sure 33-1 is big enough to tempt me
2.40 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle 3m
Paul Nicholls very keen on Rocky Creek
As mentioned earlier he believes Boston Bob will go to the Neptune
Andrew King thought Rocky Creek would go off 7-2 if Boston Bob was NR, so 10-1 at the moment was excellent
Paul Jones was not taken by Brindisi Breeze last run, not up to the standard to win this race
3.20 Totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup Steeple Chase 3m 2 1/2f
Much of this was taken up discussing the merits of Long Run‘s last run, and whether Grand Crus would run
Paul Jones thought the front two were vulnerable, and that Weird Al was the best bet at 20-1
Andrew king thought What a Friend EW, although Paul Nicholls dismissed this saying 3rd was his best chance if everyone turned up
Paul Nicholls said Kauto Star was in top form at home, as good as he has seen him
Wasn’t sure Long Run had trained on, and that meant there was not a lot between them
Philip Hobbs was asked about Captain Chris, he said he has always jumped right, so that was not an issue as such, however he was not at his best IF HE RAN it would be Ryanair or Gold Cup, however then said he wouldn’t really want more than 3 miles, so I give him next to no chance of running in the Gold Cup, and I got the impression he was by no means certain to run at the Festival
4.00 Christie’s Foxhunter Steeple Chase 3m 2 1/2f
No discussion, although couple of tips at the end
4.40 Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle 2m 4 1/2f
As usual; David Pipe gets questioned on this race, however he said it is very difficult to even get a horse in this race, he tried with Grand Crus a couple years ago, but couldn’t as he had an OR of only 124
A few mentioned and maybe the most likely is Salut Flo if this
5.15 Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Steeple Chase 2m 1/2f
No discussion on this race