IT'S a quiet Tuesday for me with two rides, but I have had a good look at all the races for the opening day.
I hope Shishkin can get one on the board for Nico and Team Unibet in the Supreme, and I like Brewin’upastorm in the Arkle. I saw him on the gallops on Saturday morning and he looked unbelievable.
Discorama looks handicapped to go well in the Ultima after his wind op, and it is Supasundae for me in the Unibet Champion Hurdle. He could be the class horse in the race, and will be suited by a big field and a strong pace over this trip.
I also wouldn’t be surprised to see our Ocean Cove run a massive race at around 50/1 in the National Hunt Chase.
Sure, he has a lot to find on the book but he made a big mistake at Exeter last time and would have finished closer to Springfield Fox but for that.
He stayed 3m2f well over hurdles, and I think he could be a big improver for this test of stamina. I wouldn’t put you off him each way at a huge price.
Cheltenham Festival Tuesday
4.10pm
Cap Soleil
Let’s be honest about this. I think we are all playing for third place behind Benie De Dieux and Honeysuckle, and Cap Soleil would not be an obvious choice of many for filling the minor placings. But I think she has a better place chance than her official mark of 130 suggests. She likes it around here for one, having finished second to Laurina in the novices’ hurdle two years, and she comes in to this race having had a prep run, which she didn’t have last year when seventh in this contest. She clearly will have to step up a good deal on that Warwick run last time, but she probably needed it a lot more than we thought there, and I’ll be riding her to pick up the pieces.
4.50pm
Jarveys Plate
He has not obviously built on the abundant promise of his reappearance Chepstow win in October, but we hope that first-time blinkers can spark him back to that sort of form. If they do then he is well handicapped off a mark of 143 on that Chepstow win, where he comfortably saw off the subsequent Rising Stars winner Reserve Tank off levels. He is a very good horse on his day and has some very good hurdles form around here, too, and he has schooled well in blinkers. It just needs to all come together for him.
