The Cheltenham December Meeting is here and any weekend with Prestbury Park action is a good one.
We had an ante-post bet on the December Gold Cup in the bag going into today’s declarations, but Pinkerton wasn’t declared. Sad.
Just a quick word to the P/L after November, it took a slight turn two weekends ago.
Before the Coral Gold Cup Weekend, we had 17.35pts profit, but after the weekend, we had 5.5pts. Ouch.
We live and we most certainly learn.
Anyway, let’s dive into Friday’s selections.
12:10 Cheltenham – Wingmen @ 5/2 with William Hill – 1pt Win
In the opener at Cheltenham, Wingmen is very interesting, though it’s not for the reasons you may think.
Because I have no life and an endless amount of time on my hands, I looked over the Cheltenham Festival novice hurdle markets the other day.
I saw Wingmen at 25/1 for the Albert Bartlett having won over 2m4f at Navan last month and I thought ‘hmm, he could feasibly stay three miles’.
So, to my delight, I saw him declared for 2m1f at Cheltenham on Friday. Who’s the real shrood here?
But, looking into his form, maybe I was too harsh on labelling him as a stayer just yet.
Wingmen won two bumpers last season, the latest was a nice one at the Punchestown Festival where he looked very impressive.
He took the race up very quickly from the front and went into a lengthy lead, but when the field came back to him with six furlongs to go, he stretched away again. He showed his stamina this day, but he also showed a very nice turn of foot.
The second, Queensbury Boy, is a nice Harry Derham horse and the third, The Passing Wise, has won two bumpers since at odds of 8/13 and 11/10.
Since then, he won on hurdles debut at Navan and the second, Forty Coats, finished a fine second to the nifty James’s Gate at Punchestown since.
He needs to improve his hurdling, that’s for sure, but he has some nice form in the book, and he has the ability.
1:15 Cheltenham – Wreckless Eric @ 7/1 with Bet365 (4 places) – 1pt EW
There was plenty to like about what Wreckless Eric did at the Cheltenham November Meeting.
He sat well off the pace and raced wide all the way around, yet when they turned for home, he showed a really nice turn of foot to challenge at the last and fly past Cavern Club and Balhambar.
The front three pulled well clear of Fasol and Razzle Dazzle Boy, two horses separated by only a neck in a handicap on the Friday of last weekend’s Tingle Creek meeting.
He’s a big improver as his opening mark last season was 108, but he likes better ground, so he’s still capable of defying an eight-pound raise in the handicap.
Valgrand has something to prove off 139 and Willmount is having his first run of the season, so that gives reasons to take them on, and I don’t think he’s fully exposed yet.
1:50 Cheltenham – Our Power @ 20/1 with Ladbrokes (3 places) – 1pt EW
The fourth race at Cheltenham is interesting as it surrounds Chianti Clasico and his lofty rating of 157.
I love him, he’s a great horse, but a mark of 157 might cause him a few issues. At the prices, I’ll let him win and if he does, I’ll stand at the front of the queue to clap him in.
So, Our Power is my play here.
He won at Ascot in October 2022 after a 228-day break before winning last year’s Coral Trophy Handicap Chase off a 119-day break, so he should go well fresh.
In the back of my mind, he might have something like the 2025 Coral Trophy as his target, but he gets his ground this weekend and that is too hard to pass on, surely?
He’s officially rated 143 now which is 2lbs above his last winning mark, but Dylan Johnston takes off a valuable 3lbs to put him nicely handicapped here.
2:25 Cheltenham – Shan Blue @ 6/1 with BetVictor – 1pt Win
During the Only Fools Love Horses Cheltenham preview on Wednesday, I highlighted Shan Blue as a potential one for the veterans’ handicap chase, and I have no reason to change.
Ever since he fell in the 2021 Charlie Hall Chase, he’s had a few issues, notably when pulling up on three separate occasions.
However, his recent efforts offer hope that he is in good form to run well off 141.
Two starts ago, he ran a great race to finish third to Threeunderthrufive at Ascot over three miles. He made all this day over the trip and just faded late-on, but it was still a good effort.
He blew off the cobwebs at Bangor last month over three miles on soft ground, and I hope the combination of better ground and race fitness will bring him on plenty for this weekend.
If that does, his form is right there from previous years, and I like the step down in trip to 2m4f.
He finished second to Shishkin as a novice hurdler and second in the Grade 1 Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase in February 2021.
With plenty of form on a sounder surface, notably when winning twice on good to soft ground at Wetherby in 2020, he should go well here.
3:00 Cheltenham – Chemical Energy @ 25/1 with Bet365 (5 places) – 0.5pt EW
I’m adding a late entry to the column here, but Chemical Energy is a horse I don’t want to leave alone in the Cross Country.
Yes, this is a new discipline for him, but he’s nicely handicapped and can make an impact in a race that tends to be easier than most.
I actually had him pencilled down for the 3m2f handicap chase at the entry stage and when originally writing the column, I missed that Gordon Elliott declared him here instead.
That’s a notable decision from connections to come over and go straight to the cross-country course. Maybe he’s having a sighter, but surely this hypothesis is more likely with Delta Work and Coko Beach with their lofty marks rather than him?
The eight-year-old by Well Chosen likes good ground and he does stay. He nearly won the National Hunt Chase in 2023 over 3m6f if not for soft ground stunting his effort in the final furlong.
For a horse of his ability, a mark of 146 is more than fair considering most of the horses around him are on similar marks and have more questions to answer.
I’ll keep my stakes small, but he’s the 11th-hour choice.
