Road to the Cheltenham Foxhunter

[Darran]

With the 1st hunter chases of the season coming yesterday at Fairyhouse I thought it was time to start this thread again. Having done this for the 1st time last season and it proving popular I will once again be updating those horses that are being aimed at the Foxhunter in March. It is one race that gets over looked when looking at Cheltenham and I always get asked questions about what horses are and aren't qualified for the race. So this is where I can keep everyone updated as to what is going on and my thoughts on the runners. Obviously any bets during the upcoming months will go here as well.

Given we have had just 3 points in the UK and the Irish season is in its early stages as well we have already seen plenty of horses hoping to line up at Cheltenham in March. Let's start with the Fairyhouse race from yesterday which featured It Came To Pass and Billaway, the first two home from last season. The former's trainer went on RacingTV before the race and said that the horse would improve a stone for the run, the ground was against him and that he is a better horse in the spring. It was no surprise he drifted in the betting and given all that I thought he ran really well as he got himself into contention before fading in the straight. As far as I am aware only William Hill have the race priced up and It Came To Pass is currently 12/1 2nd fav which seems a fair enough price to me as his run was full of promise. Billaway is currently the 8/1 market leader to reverse the form from last season. He travelled well up until just before they turned for home where he looked like he would drop out of contention, but he came back on the bridle and looked the winner until he made a right mess of the last. I'm not certain he would have won though as when he got to the winner on the run in he didn't get any closer and I think the winner had more in the tank. At this stage he is probably still the horse I would make favourite for the race as it was a promising return to action and he should still be progressive. Stand Up And Fight looked like he would be a possible winner of the Foxhunter a couple of years ago when he finished 6th in the race. Last season didn't go to plan though as he only managed to win a point over a banks course. It seems cross-country racing was going to be his thing this season, but after this win yesterday the trainer said he will stick to hunter chases now. First time blinkers might have done the trick and you would want to see them work again, but it was a personal best performance for me and if he builds on it then he will be a player come March. The 14/1 available is a fair price, but I would want to see a repeat performance before considering getting involved.

Staying in Ireland I have to mention a horse who was declared to run at Fairyhouse, but didn't turn up. Aloneamongmillions ended up running at Dromahane instead where he beat last year's 4th Staker Wallace by a very comfortable 3L. That performance clearly puts him in the Foxhunter picture and despite having only 7 runs he is already qualified. Interestingly the only time he hasn't won was when he made his debut and that came in the UK when he fell in a maiden that Road To Rome went on to win. Given what that one went on to do it would have been a fascinating contest if Aloneamongmillions had of stood up. In Ireland broke his maiden tag last month and then won 3 points last season, before winning a hunter chase at Gowran Park in pleasing style. After that race his trainer said he would be aimed at Cheltenham and clearly he has backed that up with his win on Sunday. He's 16/1 at the moment and is a fascinating contender at this stage. Staker Wallace himself is also 16/1 and having fancied him last season I wouldn't want to write him off just yet.

Onto what has been happening this side of the Irish sea. Because the pointing season was stopped last term when lockdown happened the current season started in October which given pointing has had to stop again because of lockdown was a very good move. We have also already seen 4 horses who could have serious Cheltenham claims. First to run was Maxwell's Foxhunter horse this season Jatiluwih at Bishops Court. The horse was very good over hurdles and he not surprisingly made a winning pointing debut under Will Biddick as his owner is currently injured. He clearly is a very good horse, but I wasn't impressed with his jumping and that will need to improve a lot before I even consider backing him for Cheltenham. Obviously there is scope for improvement on that front, but 14/1 wouldn't appeal on the basis of that run.

Maxwell has 3 other horses priced up. Shantou Flyer has surely had his best chance of winning the race so he looks short at 16s. I haven't seen anything about Cat Tiger going hunter chasing and he is at 20/1. Bob And Co is also 20/1 but however much the Racing Post's Tom Collins thinks he is a Cheltenham Foxhunter contender I would be amazed if he turned up at Cheltenham and Aintree will be is race. We also know that Maxwell will only run one in the race based on what he said before this year's renewal so something would need to happen to Jatiluwih for any other these to run.

In the Ladies Open on the Bishops Court card I was much more impressed with Red Indian who beat a solid yardstick in Master Baker by 50L. He looks a readymade replacement for the yards Top Wood and he looks set to be an exciting horse this season. He isn't priced up by William Hill at the moment, but he should be. Like Jatiluwih it was a good move to get him out early to get the 1st qualifying run out of the way.

At Maisemore Wishing And Hoping ran out a comfortable winner of the Mixed Open for the Hazel Hill team. Some thought he should have been aimed at Cheltenham last season, but I though the Rowley's were right to take things more slowly with him as he looked like he needed a bit more experience. It was a solid win and he jumped well in making all. You would think he will be Cheltenham bound this season.

The last meeting before lockdown number 2 was at Kimble and the Mens Open there saw another very impressive performance from a horse making their pointing debut. Porlock Bay has come over from France and was backed in the market beforehand so was fancied to win and he ended up bolting up by 20L. The race was over 2m4f and he is unproven over further so we don't yet know if he will stay the Cheltenham trip. The plan seems to be to try him over 3m next time and we will know more then, but he looks a classy horse based on this performance. Hills have him priced up at 25/1.

Pointing in the UK is set to start again once we come out of lockdown and pointing in Ireland continues. I don't have the UK hunter chase dates yet, but usually Taunton in January is the first race of the season.

NB - In his Racing Post stable tour on 16/11 Paul Nicholls has stated that Bob And Co has had a wind op and Cat Tiger will be going hunter chasing.

[Darran]

It was great to see pointing in the UK back at the weekend and there were two divisions of the Mixed Open at Chaddesley Corbett which held plenty of interest as regards to the Cheltenham Foxhunter.

In the 1st division 2019 winner Hazel Hill made his seasonal return and his first run since losing at Wetherby to Minella Rocco. He was sent off the 1/3F, but he never looked like winning as he finished a 25L 2nd to Highway Jewel. Bradley Gibbs made all on the 6yo and built up a massive advantage with another rival before that one dropped away and no one else get anywhere near her. The winning time backed up the visual appearance that she wasn't exactly hanging around and it was impressive how she kept up the gallop. It could be argued that Alex Edwards misjudged things badly on the 2nd and you would imagine he wasn't fully tuned up for this, but I think the best horse won. Hazel Hill turns 13 next month and you have to wonder if he will even go to Cheltenham. The winner was sent off at 20/1 which wasn't a huge surprise as although she was 4/4 since coming over from Ireland the last two of those were in matches and the other two a Maiden and a Restricted. That was all in the 18/19 season as well so she hadn't run since May 2019 and you wouldn't have thought she would have been capable of beating a Foxhunter winner by 25L in such impressive fashion. She looks a very good horse and has proven she can handle good ground as well as testing ground. She hasn't qualified for Cheltenham yet and we have already seen some impressive horses this season, but I am actually going to recommend a bet on her at 66/1. I wouldn't usually get involved in the race at this stage, but I wasn't expecting to see her at such a big price as I would have her around 25/1 at this stage. Given Hazel Hill is 16s it is clear to me she is totally the wrong price.

It didn't get any better for the Rowley team as they had another 1/3F beaten in the 2nd division which was also won by a Bradley Gibbs trained/ridden runner. As mentioned in the 1st update Wishing And Hoping had made a winning return at Maisemore, but he was firmly put in his place here by Premier Magic. He made the running until 3 out when the winner took over and ended up scoring by 7L. He was only a 6/1 chance, but it was still surprising that he was able to beat Wishing And Hoping. That made his pointing record in the UK 3/7 and on his last start of last season he was all out to win a Restricted at Didmarton back in March. The 2nd did have a 7lbs penalty to carry, but you would think that with fitness onside he ought to have won this. I guess Cheltenham would still be the plan, but you would want to see him bounce back next time out.

Over in Ireland we saw last year's 4th Staker Wallace finish 2nd again this time to Dom Dolo. That one is rated 125 over hurdles and had fallen at the 1st on his seasonal return, but this was a good performance. Given Staker Wallace is 16/1 you would imagine connections of Dom Dolo will be thinking of Cheltenham although he isn't priced up yet.

This weekend we could well see Jatiluwih and Red Indian qualify for Cheltenham as they are both entered up this weekend. I will be back after the weekend to update on their efforts should they be back in action.

Highway Jewel 0.5pts e/w @ 66/1 with Betfair