CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL – FRIDAY

2:10 County Hurdle

First Street (Nico de Boinville)

He was second in this race last year and has had quite a good time after that, winning the Gerry Fielden at Newbury in his first start this season, and he’s just a very nice person to have around the place. He is 10lbs higher in the weights which is certainly going to make things difficult, but we’ve tinkered with his wind and he wears a tongue time for the first time so we are hoping that may give us a few pounds back and he comes here in good form. The Irish will no doubt have something that has slipped under the radar but this looks a good race for First Street and I would like to think he can run into a place.

Unibet are paying EXTRA PLACES (six) in this race

3:30 G1 Gold Cup

Unfortunately we have no representative in this year’s Gold Cup but that won’t stop me enjoying it as much as everybody else. We did enter Shishkin, and it was very much a speculative entry, but who knows, if things go to plan, he could end up here next year.

Galopin Des Champs has been very good over fences so I can certainly see why he’s favourite and he is no doubt the one the all have to beat, but I will be paying close attention to Noble Yeats, who is owned by my great pal Robert Waley-Cohen. I thought he ran well in the Cotswold last time and while it’s very rare for a Grand National winner to come and do the same in the Gold Cup the year after, this horse has a lot of class about him and, as is likely to be the case, stamina will certainly come into play, and I wouldn’t rule him out. At a slightly bigger price, I thought Andy Holding’s comments about Sounds Russian were interesting at the Unibet Preview evening last week and he could be worth a small each way bet at about 25/1.

Unibet are paying EXTRA PLACES (four) in this race

5:30 Martin Pipe

No Ordinary Joe (Luca Morgan)

He’s a horse with quite a bit of class and this is his trip. He won’t mind soft ground and we’ve got a very experienced jockey booked. You can never be confident in a race like this, but his work has been very good and I don’t quite think we’ve quite reached the ceiling with him.

Impulsive One (Ben Bromley)

I liked his attitude at Wetherby last time where he won on his first start over two and a half and he’s a very consistent horse. The ground would be a slight concern, and he has had trouble with his wind before, but he has plenty of ability and could run a nice race at big odds.

Unibet are paying EXTRA PLACES (five) in this race

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