Cheltenham ~ 12th March ~ DAY 3

[mileni4uk]

:drums

[fintron]

Re: Cheltenham ~ 12th March ~ DAY 3 4.00 Cheltenham - Freddie Williams Festival Plate The likes of Le Burf and Ping Pong Sivola should ensure they don't dilly dally in this 2m 5f Grade 3 handicap chase and with that in mind I am looking for one that could make their move late on. Howard Johnson's Akilak could be just the runner. One of only four course winners in this 24-runner strong field he comes into the race in good form and has been consistently making the frame even though he has had to overcome some slow paces in recent races. He made a pleasing comeback at Carlisle when second to Malko du Beaumont in a class 3 handicap chase on heay going. His rating was raised 7 lb to 127 for his next outing when he won at Newcastle over 2m 4f. The pace was not quick that day, yet he still won by 5 lengths and the handicapper raised him 10 lbs for that win. His last run came over course and distance in a Grade 3 handicap 47 days ago and although the winner (The Sawyer) kept pulling out more to fend him off it was a decent effort to stay on to take second and finish ahead of the likes of Moon Over Miami and Pablo du Charmil. This is the race won by Mister McGoldrick (66/1) last year and again looks wide open so I'm hoping this one has a chance off a mark of 140 if he gets the race run at a decent pace. Most of his recent form has come on slow ground but going back a few years he did place on Gd/Frm ground and when he placed in the Triumph hurdle here several years ago the going was good, so I think he is worth a punt at the price. 22/1 Paddypower