Cheltenham Festival Tuesday
1.30pm
Shishkin
We always hoped he would develop into a leading novice hurdler this season after winning his bumper so impressively for me at Kempton, and thankfully that has proved to be the case. It hasn’t been without its challenges obviously, as he fell on his hurdling debut at Newbury, but he has had no such problems since and been very impressive in his two subsequent starts. A striking feature of those successes has been his turn of foot at the business end of his race, which has led some people to liken his run-style to that of Altior. That is understandable I suppose, but he has a lot of improvement to make to get to that level, and he has yet to run in Graded company, too. But the manner in which he has won at Newbury and Huntingdon leads us to believe we have a very exciting youngster on our hands and, although he has won on heavy, I think a better surface could suit him, given his change of gear, should it dry out. This is a very good Supreme, with three Grade 1 winners up against us – I probably just about fear Asterion Forlonge the most – but I think I am on a horse who could well rise to the challenge. He is very good.
2.50pm
Brave Eagle
He didn’t run his race in the Ladbrokes Trophy back in November, but he at least got dropped 1lb for it and we have freshened him up since. He is a horse who would clearly love it if the ground rode better than expected, as all his best form has come on a decent surface. He is 5lb higher than when winning at Uttoxeter in the summer, so he is not obviously well-weighted, but he is in very good form at home and he does go very well when fresh.
3.30pm
Pentland Hills
Talking of Cheltenham Previews, I don’t think there has been a lot of love doing the rounds for Pentland Hills, and that surprises me. I get the fact that he has been beaten after travelling smoothly and looking like the winner on both occasions this season, most obviously when nailed on the line by Ballyandy at Haydock last time, but I don’t think either race played to his strengths. We saw what this horse could do when getting a strong pace in a big field in the Triumph Hurdle last year, when beating Couer Sublime by a comfortable 3 lengths – he really was very good that day – and hopefully he will thrive once again in those conditions here. And if the ground rides decent, then so much the better. I haven’t lost faith in the horse at all, and maybe the small tweak to his wind since Haydock will have helped, too. Everyone knows this is a winnable Champion Hurdle, and I genuinely believe he has a lot more going for him in here than most, if not all. If you question his heart for a battle, then go and have a look at his Aintree defeat of Fakir D’oudairies last April and come back to me.
4.50pm
Precious Cargo
He obviously won very well first time out at Haydock and he has run creditably in defeat since, just getting touched off at Newbury for me and finishing third to the form horses Rouge Vif and Nube Negra in the Kingmaker on better ground over 2m at Warwick, where he found things happening a touch too quickly for him. This is his first start at the trip, but I think the extra half-mile or so promises to suit him – I think he has been crying out for it, in fact – and hopefully there is improvement in him as he steps up in distance. Soft ground suits him well. The softer the better in fact, and I think he is in the right race.
