White flag raised...And they're off - Bumper weekend to kickstart Jumps Season
It has finally come to that time of year, the stalls leave the scene and get replaced by hurdles and fences. The quirky and enigmatic two year olds have their first winter off and out come the reliable, yet still at times eccentric, older generation. The top hats of Royal Ascot are replaced by the tweed caps at Cheltenham. It is indeed the start of the National Hunt Jumps season.
The season has already managed to create little tasters of what is to come with interesting and informative cards at Down Royal and Wetherby in recent weeks. However, this weekend is where things begin to get a bit more serious with sumptuous cards at both Cheltenham and Punchestown to divulge into. Some of the best of both Irish and English racing will be on show over the weekend. The major talking point must be the return of the former machine, Faugheen, in the Morgiana Hurdle at the Irish venue on Sunday. The former Champion Hurdle winner will be looking to return to action after an eighteen month absence. It will riveting to see whether he retains any of that old ability that he used to have in abundance before injury. Faugheen will have nothing handed to him on a plate on reappearance however, with Jezki, a former champion himself and the progressive Campeador both set to take their chance against him.
Also on the exciting Sunday card at Punchestown are two compelling Grade Two Novice Chases. In the Florida Pearl Novice, there is one of the most gripping races in the Irish calendar so far this season. The Pertemps winner of last year, Presenting Percy faces up against Gordon Elliot star, Death Duty, in an eagerly anticipated matchup. The preference must lie with the former, who jumped impeccably on chase debut. Questions are yet to be answered from Death Duty's camp about the horse at the highest level, after two poor showings at the top level at the two spring festivals last year. Elliot, who carries a more than adequate hand in the shape of Death Duty, must hold an even stronger grip of the Craddockstown Novice. He runs the exciting Chase recruit, Tombstone, who is sure to go off a warm order in this contest. However, there must be consideration made for Ted Walsh's, Any Second Now, who looked a potential top prospect in the early part of last season. The son of Oscar is sure to benefit from a transition to the larger obstacles.
Despite the terrific action at the iconic Irish track, it's the three day 'November meeting' at Cheltenham this weekend that is the star attraction of the week. With several top notch animals set to take part, it should lead for a mouth watering spectacle over the next couple of days. On the Friday, it must be the second chase start of the Colin Tizzard trained Finian's Oscar that is the main headline act. The Grade One winning novice hurdler has only beaten once in a seven race career to date and the horse made an adequate, if unspectacular, start to fences at Chepstow last month. However, he will get to test his credentials more with an intriguing matchup against William Henry, with Davy Russell flying in for the mount on the Nicky Henderson charge. Also for the Tizzard stable on Friday, is the equally exciting and unknown quantity of Vision des Flos, an expensive recruit by the late Alan Potts, who sadly died on Sunday from a heart attack. Vision des Flos and Finian's Oscar will both wear his colours and it would seem only fit, that one if not both were to collect on Friday.
Friday gives Cheltenham racegoers a terrific card, yet it's only a sample of what the weekend has in store for them. The feature on the Saturday card is the BetVictor Handicap Chase, and the complexion of that race is just as complicated and trappy as usual. This features the likes of Kylemore Lough, who is debuting for the Harry Fry yard and last year's festival winner, Tully East. Although, my selection lies with Ballyalton, a winner at the 2016 festival and a second at the 2014 festival. This fragile sort trained by Ian Williams must hold massive claims if taking natural improvement from his first outing of the season. Also on Saturday, there is a major chance of seeing Gumball, an extremely exciting juvenile for the Philip Hobbs team. This dark grey horse resembles an awful lot of similarities to Rooster Booster, who was owned and trained by the same connections. If he was even half as good as the Rooster, I'm sure connections would be delighted. Lastly, in the concluder on Saturday, Grageelagh Girl will look to avenge her defeat by disqualification at Aintree by winning the listed Mares bumper on Cheltenham's Card.
So all in all, there is a fascinating and compelling weekend of racing ahead of us and it is sure to provide some further clues into the season ahead. Personally, I will be heading over to Cheltenham for the November meeting and hopefully it will live up to the lofty expectations people are expecting. For Horse Racing itself, let us all hope that the colours of Ann and Alan Potts can be carried on with a winner this weekend, if anyone deserves it, it's them.
Best Bets for the Weekend:
Friday 2.25 Cheltenham - Finian's Oscar (Evens) - 1pt Win
Friday 3.35 Cheltenham - Vision des Flos (11/4) - 2pts Win
Saturday 12.40 Cheltenham - Gumball - 1pt Win*
Saturday 2.25 Cheltenham - Ballyalton (10/1) 1/2 pt Each-Way
Saturday 4.00 Cheltenham - Grageelagh Girl - 1pt Win*
Sunday 2.15 Punchestown - Faugheen (4/6) - 2pts Win
Sunday 1.05 Punchestown - Any Second Now (10/1) 1/2 pt Each-Way
Sunday 1.40 Punchestown - Presenting Percy (6/4) 1pt Each Way
*Odds not yet published by bookmakers*