Festival:Graded Chases

Bob's Worth and First Lieutenant 

I'm talking Queen Mother, Ryanair and Gold Cup here obviously. The two mile Championship is Sprinter Sacre's for the taking and he was awesome again last Saturday. He's the best two miler I've seen.

The Ryanair is wide open and competitive looking and my initial fancy for this was Finian's Rainbow who I backed in his Arkle defeat in 2011 but left alone last year. He learned to settle better last season though and doesn't need to lead now. The Ryanair looked the best option for the horse as it's a bit pointless taking on a monster from your own stable but he's only had the one run on unsuitable ground so far this campaign so enthusiasm is tempered. The one horse who looks tailor made for this particular race is First Lieutenant who seems to always find one or two too good for him when running over three miles plus. He just failed to see out the trip in the Lexus and probably set too fast a gallop in the Hennessy at Newbury but he loves Cheltenham and this trip short of three miles is ideal for him. Unfortunately connections seem to be aiming him at the Gold Cup but with Sir Des Champs in the same ownership I still feel things might change and for that reason I recently took 10/1 (non runner free bet) with Victor Chandler, a bet and concession I have used more than once this season for the Festival.
Other possibles for the race include the likes of Cue Card, Champion Court, Riverside Theatre and Flemenstar but the Ryanair is the one race at the Festival where it's most difficult to predict the line-up for even six weeks out. For that reason the NRFB concession is one I really like. Ta Victor.

In the Gold Cup I have a position on Flemenstar that doesn't look as attractive as it once did and a small bet on Sir Des Champ at a decent price that may or may not be topped up depending on other results at the Festival earlier in the week. These two meet once again in the Irish Hennessy on Feb 9th and we'll know more about them after that contest. Whatever happens I expect a big improvement from Sir Des Champs once he gets to Cheltenham again. He was foot perfect jumping those formidable fences last March in the Jewson.

Ryanair Chase:
Finian's Rainbow £15w @ 10/1
First Lieutenant £25w @ 10/1 NRFB

Gold Cup:
Flemenstar £50w @ 13/1
Sir Des Champs £15w @ 8/1

Doubles:

Grandouet (Champion Hurdle) and Sir Des Champs (Gold Cup) £10 @ 12/1 and 6/1

Boston Bob (RSA) and Flemenstar (Gold Cup) £10 @ 8/1 and 7/1

Captain Conan (Jewson) and Silviniaco Conti (Gold Cup) £10 @ 6/1 and 9/1