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Cheltenham Festival Review and the four best bets for Cheltenham 2021

Steve Jones |

March 18, 2020

WITH racing off until May at the earliest there’s no better time to look back at last week’s Cheltenham Festival and take a glance at next season.

Jump racing’s greatest meeting never fails to disappoint and this year was no different.

Here’s my review of a wonderful week with some pointers that could make a few quid for those patient enough to take a punt at next year’s Festival.

 

Best performance

 

Envoi Allen

He went into the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle as one of jump racing’s brightest prospects. He came out of it with his reputation not only intact but enhanced.

Envoi Allen was impressive when wining the Champion Bumper at last year’s Festival. His performance when making it eight wins out of eight last week was devastating.

Gordon Elliott’s ace looked to be briefly in trouble turning for home. The way he turned a six-length deficit into a two-length advantage at the final hurdle was scintillating.

Novices storm into view looking like the next superstar before disappearing with a string of disappointments the following season with surprising regularity. Envoi Allen should be exception not the rule.

 

Best race

 

Mares’ Hurdle

It’s the race that is sneered at by the traditionalists and, right up until the final decs were announced, the head-to-head between Benie Des Dieux and Honeysuckle was far from certain to take place.

Boy, am I glad it did. Both mares had options in the Festival’s championship hurdle races but their clash in the race run to remember David Nicholson was one of the highlights of the week.

It pitched the 2018 winner Benie Des Dieux – a desperately-unlucky faller at the final hurdle 12 months earlier – against unbeaten Honeysuckle.

This was a race to savour for a number of reasons. It saw two of the great mares fight out the finish but it was also notable for another female – jockey Rachel Blackmore.

She outrode her rivals in some style by nipping up the inside of Benie Des Dieux’s stablemate Stormy Ireland round the home turn to get the first run. It proved crucial as the odds-on favourite cut her down up the final climb but could only get within half a length of Honeysuckle.

Those who turned their back rather than look down their nose at the race they detest missed a real treat.

 

Biggest disappointment

 

Defi Du Seuil

The gate was left wide open for Defi Du Seuil in the Champion Chase.

All he had to do is what he had been doing all season and he would have waltzed right through.

Sadly, he ran miles below his brilliant best in the absence of big-race rivals Altior and Chacun Pour Soi leaving dashing grey Politologue to have his moment in the sun. That’s the same Politologue who he had twice beaten earlier in the season.

It was not just a missed opportunity for Defi Du Seuil, it was an open goal of a championship prize that went sailing into row Z. Those sorts of chances don’t come gift wrapped very often but all is not lost for Philip Hobbs’ star chaser.

It was clearly not his form and the way he dominated the two-mile division last season suggests he will be a force to be reckoned with next term.

With Put The Kettle On’s Arkle defeat of Fakir D’Oudairies fairly easy to pick holes in and Altior turning 11-years-old a few months ahead of next year’s Festival, Defi Du Seuil could easily make a return to set the record straight in 12 months.

 

Unluckiest horse

 

Goshen

The Oxford English Dictionary defines Goshen as ‘a place of comfort and plenty’. For backers of the horse with the same name it was anything but.

Gary Moore’s ace went through 95 per cent of the Triumph Hurdle like the quality horse he clearly is. Sadly, that last five per cent, saw jockey Jamie Moore tumble to the ground at the final hurdle.

At first glance it looked like he simply fell off following an innocuous mistake. Closer inspection showed it was the freakiest of unseats with Goshen getting one of his hind hooves stuck in his front leg for a stride or two. It was the equivalent of a JPR Williams drop of the shoulder that gave Moore no chance of staying on board.

He might have been the unluckiest loser but those losses are surely just lent. Such was the style of the performance up until fate struck a cruel blow he is now 9-2 favourite for next year’s Champion Hurdle. If there’s any justice the Moores will be merrier at next year’s Festival.

*We're not going to put the video in of Goshen unseating. We know he was well backed and times are hard enough as it is. Goshen is an extremely exciting horse for next season and we can't wait to see what he goes on to achieve – The Unibet Racing Team

 

Best story

 

Samcro

Everyone loves a resurrection. In the Marsh Novices’ Chase you got three for the price of one.

Samcro had been hailed as something close to the second coming of Arkle when he won the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle at the 2018 Festival.

Since then the wheels had come off in some order with a single win at odds of 1-3 all he could muster from seven subsequent starts.

Melon, runner-up in the last two Unibet Champion Hurdles, was written off as an iffy jumper and Faugheen was attempting to win his third Festival prize fully six years after the first.

The trio served up one of the best races of the Festival. Samcro nosed out the Willie Mullins’ pair in a titanic battle up the famous hill. It was a novice race dominated by oldies but, by god, they were all golden.

 

Biggest eyecatcher

 

Abracadabras

The magic might not have quite stretched to victory in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle but Abacadabras has surely got a trick or two left up his sleeve.

The way he went through the race suggests he is a proper two-miler and possibly from the top drawer.

Despite being hampered when Asterion Forlonge crashed into Elixir D’Ainay at the second-last hurdle, he was nimble enough to avoid the trouble.

That left almost upsides the pacesetter and Davy Russell had little choice but to let him cruise into the lead. It was, unfortunately, too soon and he was worried out of it by Shishkin’s finishing charge.

With Nicky Henderson’s winner likely to switch to fences next season and the top two-mile hurdlers lacking depth, the Unibet Champion Hurdle looks a realistic target.

The 8-1 available could look very big approaching next year’s Festival.

 

Best bets for Cheltenham 2021

Abacadabras (Champion Hurdle) 8-1

Defi Du Seuil (Champion Chase) 14-1

The Big Breakaway (RSA Chase) 16-1

Minella Indo (Gold Cup) 12-1

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