CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL – THURSDAY

3:20 G1 Stayers’ Hurdle

Impose Toi (Nico De Boinville)

Everything has gone well since Cheltenham on New Year’s Day but he is a notoriously lazy horse at home, he shows us absolutely nothing, but we have learnt to live with that because there were days when we almost dared not run him because he was almost so unconvincing at home.

He was very good at Aintree at the start of the season in a Pertemps Qualifier and we could have run in that race but we’re now onto the New Course so the good ground will really suit him.

I couldn’t really fault him dramatically for getting beaten in the Relkeel because the ground was very soft and we were giving the winner (Ma Shantou) 6lbs and while I’m not giving him unnecessary excuses I think he can improve dramatically on that.  He was good in the Long Walk and I think he has a very good chance here, especially if there is any ‘Good’ in the ground.

Doddiethegreat (James Bowen)

He won the Pertemps last year and has been a great servant to us all and any prize money he earns will go directly to the Doddie Weir Foundation so the main objective is to get as much money as possible which is why he is running in all the Graded races, also because his handicap mark is obviously high now.

He came into Cheltenham in great form last year and I think he is in the same form as twelve months ago. He jumps and stays well and I’m not going to tell you for one moment he is going to win but he will run his race and has a solid each way shout.

4:00 G1 Ryanair Chase

Jonbon (Nico De Boinville)

I know a lot of people will say he doesn’t like Cheltenham, but he’s won a couple of Shloers and has been second every other time so it’s not a particularly bad record!

Everything went wrong for him in the Champion Chase last year, the tape hit him in the fence at the start so he was on the back foot from the word go and could never get there.

After doing so much over two miles he came back into the Ascot Chase over the extended two and a half last time and going that but further helped him travel that much more smoothly and he really enjoyed himself.

He has had two quite hard races at Ascot but seems to thrive on his racing and it would be wonderful if he could gain a well deserved victory at the Cheltenham Festival.

We can look at going over further in time and perhaps three miles might come into the equation at Aintree.

4:40 Pertemps Final

Bold Endeavour (James Bowen)

He has come down a fair bit in the weights and is now off a career low mark.

He ran very well in a Qualifier for this at Haydock which was highly encouraging on his first run for quite some time and I think he’s come on a lot for it.

Good ground is essential and everything has to go right for him, and if it all does, he could certainly be thereabouts.

5:20 Kim Muir

Jeriko Du Reponet (Derek O’Connor)

We hadn’t been that happy with him all the way through coming into the Pertemps last year but he nevertheless ran a great race and came good at the right time. The cheek pieces seem to help him and he is quite a hard horse to sum up, to be honest, but there’s no doubt he’s talented when he’s right and we’ve got Derek O’Connor in to ride so we can’t do better than that and he seems to enjoy jumping fences nowadays.

Excello (Henry Main)

He is creeping down the Handicap and had a horrible fall at Cheltenham, but he is naturally a very sound jumper and he’ll be a nice ride for an amateur so Henry, who  knows him well, will be getting the leg up.

It’s always a wide open race but he deserves to take his place.