Wed: 2.05 Neptune Investment Management Novice's Hurdle

[BillyHills]

.

[TheRat]

Re: Wed: 2.05 Neptune Investment Management Novice's Hurdle Now Fingal Bay has been confirmed for this race I have had a decent EW bet at 5/1. I really like him, some have said they weren't that impressed in the Challow, well I was the way Ballyrock came beside him and he found more, Big Bucks esq. I think in recent times the Challow has been a poor guide for the winner but it is important to focus at the head of the betting and for a horse who won or came second LTO. The way he won at Cheltenham in the Grade 2 race was very impressive, he completely smashed the second last but recovered instantly to leave them all behind, and he looked in trouble at Sandown when Simonsig was travelling best but he finds so much for pressure and he won comfortably in the end. Hobbs said he is potentially the best horse he has ever trained which is high praise and I can't wait to see him run at the festival.

[NewPunter]

Re: Wed: 2.05 Neptune Investment Management Novice's Hurdle Mount Benbulben (14/1) is my bet here, not confident at all now though after that last run and indeed whether they will even target this race

[TheRat]

Re: Wed: 2.05 Neptune Investment Management Novice's Hurdle I like him but I think he is likely to go for the other race

[PISSAH]

Re: Wed: 2.05 Neptune Investment Management Novice's Hurdle Hi everyone i was just wondering about a horse out of Willie Mullins Yard called TERMINAL. This horse is making a lot of noise in Ireland with just one race under his belt in a Navan 2 mile hurdle. I know Willie went to France this year and bought it (Sir Des Champs last year, it won the same race in Navan before he won the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle in Cheltenham). TERMINAL is down for three races at the festival (Supreme Nov, Albert-Barlett and the Neptune). His shortest price on betfair is for the Neptune 34/1 the others i think is 66/1 my reason for posting it here. TERMINAL is also declared for the Deloitte Novice Hurdle (Grade 1) at Leopardstown at 2.10 on the 12th of Feb. If any of you bhoys have an opinion on this i would love to here it. I am new to posting and as i said on my first post I would like to thank everybody on this site as most posts are great reading and very accurate and are a great tool for racing. I only hope i can keep up to this high standard. Best of luck to all this CHELTENHAM the greatest show on earth.

[NewPunter]

Re: Wed: 2.05 Neptune Investment Management Novice's Hurdle Fingal Bay is injured

[Bathtime For Rupert]

Re: Wed: 2.05 Neptune Investment Management Novice's Hurdle 2.05 Cheltenham - 3pts win Monksland @ 11/2 (Bet365) The word from many quarters has been that Boston Bob would win whichever race he ran in at the Festival, and with that one heading to the Albert Bartlett, it leaves Noel Meade's runner in with a serious chance here - having form tied in with that one. Simonsig is a well-fancied favourite, still, however, and I can see why. However, a horse who supposedly has so much speed according to connections, is opposable here for me over the 2m5f trip at Cheltenham. He has been impressive to date, but his effort upped to 2m4f a couple of starts back would concern me slightly. Obviously he met a very smart type in Fingal Bay, but he didn't find that much off the bridle, and I wouldn't be piling into him at 5/2 here with those slight stamina doubts in mind. Monksland has impressed me with the manner of his wins under rules so far, and his form has worked out nicely. He's one of the top-rated horses in the field, and there are no question marks over this one's stamina. You wouldn't necessarily have had him down as a Festival winner on his hurdling debut success, when getting up late under pressure from two horses who haven't really franked the form, but this bumper winner likely needed the experience over jumps, and certainly would improve for a greater test of stamina. He built on it, as expected, when running out a smooth winner at Naas over 2m4f last time out. He travelled comfortably and picked up well after the last, once regathering his stride after a flat-footed landing. He swishes his tail a bit, but it hasn't stopped him from finding plenty for pressure, and he won readily by 4 1/2l. On this occasion, he could have won by further, but the runner-up has really franked the form since. He chased home Boston Bob next time out - going down by 2l less than behind my selection. He was in receipt of 10lbs on that occasion, so it's no real surprise, but the winner had to really dig in to get there, whereas Monksland wasn't given too much of a hard time. You may well say that if Boston Bob ran here, he would have the measure of my hope, but without him, I'm quite keen, as the yardstick won a Grade 2 last time out in good style. He does have to face better ground here today, but I hope it won't be too much of a concern. His dam enjoyed a sound surface, so I would hope he may even improve for it. The testing track shouldn't be an issue either, and I expect Carberry to be delivering a late challenge here, and has every chance of getting up.