Jumps Racing Wednesday 13th March

[Lodge]

2.05 – Cheltenham – Pont Alexandre 2 pts @ 13/8 Betfred The Mullins camp tore Cheltenham apart today and they have a great chance of getting another winner on the board early tomorrow. Pont Alexandre is unbeaten in his 2 starts over in Ireland and he looks like a really top horse. His grade 2 success last time looked extremely comfortable and came against some reasonable opposition including the re-opposing Sizing Gold. The main danger looks to be The New One, but his odds on defeat last time out has just put me off him, albeit still a good run. 4.00 – Cheltenham – Pendra 1pt EW @ 8/1 Betvictor (5 places) Well, today was slightly disappointing but an enjoyable days racing and there should be plenty more to come tomorrow. The Coral Cup looks a very interesting handicap and one horse I’ve had my eye on all season is Pendra, who should stand a great chance of taking the prize. He looked a horse with great potential on his hurdling debut and he has backed that impression up with a couple more solid performances since. He won 2 novice hurdles at Plumpton before running a credible 2^nd to Melodic Rendezvous at Sandown last time in the Tolworth and has since been bought by JP McManus. He steps up in distance tomorrow and I’m hoping that is something that will bring about improvement as he does give the impression the extra few furlongs will suit. He’s been sat out since that Sandown run and that suggests to me connections think he can go well off his handicap mark of 139. Todays ground may not have been quite as testing as expected but I’m not sure it will matter too much how it rides to Pendra as he seems fairly versatile. AP McCoy rides for Charlie Longsdon and I really feel it would be disappointing to see this one out of the first 5. 5.15 – Cheltenham – Blackmail 0.5pt EW @ 10/1 Bet365 Not normally one of my favourite races in terms of finding a winner however I’m gonna take my chance on Blackmail. Comes over from Ireland to represent the Tony Martin yard and with Barry Geraghty booked I think their fairly confident on this ones ability. He’s ran in 3 bumpers so far, 2^nd in the first 2 and then winning last time out, beating the Willy Mullins trained Sizing Chile with quite abit to spare. He fits most of the trends of recent winners and having won a point on decent ground and a bumper on heavy ground he will cope with whatever conditions are thrown at him. Elsewhere I have taken the Evens available on Sprinter Sacre and can’t wait to see him run

[robertob]

Re: Jumps Racing Wednesday 13th March 14.05 Cheltenham: Pont Alexandre @ 6/4 Bet365 - 6pts win Have a big Ante-Post bet on him, so surly he's my best bet of the day. He's such an exciting prospect since moving to Willie Mullins yard and all the hype surrounding this horse isn't there for nothing. He won his both starts in super impressive fashion and there is much more to come from him, no doubt. He probably didn't beat top class opposition on both occasions over in Ireland but he can only beat what he's racing against and he couldn't have done it more impressively. 14.40 Cheltenham: Boston Bob @ 7/2 Paddy Power 2pts win + Goulanes @ 7/1 Bet365 2pts win Fancy two horses in this race. Bosten Bob was very impressive when he finishing like a train at Leopardstown in the Dr. P.J. Moriarty Novice Chase confirming that he can be a top class chaser after he wasn't that impressive on his chasing debut. He will improve for these experiences as this will be only his third start over the big fences tomorrow as well as for the step up in trip. He always looked like a horse that would be much better over further than what he raced over his whole career so far and 3m should be the perfect trip. Goulanes is lightly raced under rules and had only one start over the big fences yet. This was a successful one when the won the Grade 2 Towton Novices' Chase in a dramatic finish. He should have learned plenty from this experience and it looks helpful that he gets the ground as well as the trip - and even further probably - and that he has won at Cheltenham already. So I expect him to be right in the mix with a chance to win it. 16.00 Cheltenham: Pendra @ 8/1 VC - 2pts win Pendra lacks experience but looks a very exciting prospect. He won his first three starts in fantastic fashion, finished a strong 2nd in a Grade 1 after that, and was then bought by JP McMannus. His mark looks more than fair here and might be even lenient, and even though he faces some tough opposition in this big handicapped it looks as if he's the likeliest winner. He steps up in trip, which probably suits and should bring out further improvement and if so, he'll be hard to beat. 16.40 Cheltenham: Saphir Du Rheu @7/1 Bet365 - 2pts win He has some good form to offer from his time in France finishing 3rd in a listed hurdle race there. His first start in the UK was then decent enough even though he finished a turned over odds-on favourite in third. But his second start was then very impressive winning by a wide margin. This form doesn't look to strong but the way he drew clear in the closing stages really gave the impression that he could be a very, very good horse. 17.15 Cheltenham: Golantilla @ 9/1 Paddy Power - 3pts win It's a big field, it's surly a competitive field, and you don't really know what to expect from a lot of horses here but Golantilla looks the real deal to me. One could be only impressed with his performance in Cork bumper in January. He travelled like a dream and when his jockey finally said go the horse responded impressively, showing he really has got some gears and drew easily clear of the rest of the field making them look pedestrian.