Cheltenham Trials Day Review and Plumpton Selection

Morning all,

After a thoroughly enjoyable few day’s away. It was great to be back for Saturday’s Cheltenham Trials Day and there were plenty of talking points to come out of the meeting.

Two of the most notable were the going at Cheltenham and the performance of the Paul Nicholls runners at both Cheltenham & Doncaster.

The going was officially described as good at Cheltenham. However, the way the horses were finishing their races suggests the going was more like dead, stamina sapping ground.

If you were backing Paul Nicholls runners on Saturday you ended the day very much out of pocket. Nicholls had ten runners across the Cheltenham and Doncaster cards. They all lost and only one placed. More notably for me. They all seemed to struggle to get home.

Today I look back on the highlight performances from an informative Cheltenham Trials Day. Plus, there’s a selection from Plumpton at the bottom of the main piece.

Cheltenham Trials Day Review

Last season’s Cheltenham Trials Day had to be abandoned due to waterlogging. This season’s event took place on very different ground.

Trials Day has been a useful guide to the upcoming Cheltenham Festival since 2015 eighteen horses ran on Trials Day and then came back to win in March. That’s 18 winners from 146 bets. If you had backed them all you would have a profit of £21.46 to a £1 level stake.  An even bigger profit was made backing them all to Betfair SP £124.30. You can probably ignore any horses who finished outside the first six or didn’t complete as they are – 0 winners from 29 bets.

If history is any guide two or three who ran on Saturday will go onto success back at Cheltenham in March.

Chantry House

Chantry House was on a retrieval mission in the Cotswold Chase after his flop in the King George VI Chase. Sent off the 5/6 favourite and racing in the first time cheekpieces. The 8-year-old landed the   £67,524 winner prize. However, he didn’t impress with the manner of his win. His jumping wasn’t the most fluent and he had what seemed to be hard race. He’s back on track for a run in the Gold Cup and is a best priced 16/1 with Coral & Ladbrokes for the race. A relentless gallop in a Gold Cup will likely find him out in the jumping stakes and I can’t have him myself.

Runner-up Santini ran another big race on his second start since switching to Polly Gundry. He chased down the winner all the way down to the line. Santini’s last win came in this race in 2020 before he went onto finish a neck second to Al Boum Photo in that season’s Gold Cup. The trainer feels she can get him even fitter for March. If that’s the case I think he’ll beat Chantry House in a Gold Cup match bet. However, I can’t see him winning the race although he might plug on into the places.

Paisley Park

Thirty-five minutes after the Cotswold Chase. Champ was 8/15 to follow up his Long Walk Hurdle success in the Cleeve Hurdle. He faced just four rivals who included 2019 Stayers Hurdle Winner Paisley Park who had finished 5 ¼ lengths behind him in the Long Walk.

Paisley Park whipped round at the start and lost ten lengths. It looked like he had lost his race before it began. It actually got worse for him. He hit his usual flat spot on the home turn and was once again found himself ten lengths behind the leaders.

Everything had gone well for Champ through the race. Lisnagar Oscar and Dandy Mag had helped to set a strong gallop and it looked like Champ had come to win his race between the final two hurdles. However, the strong pace also suited Paisley Park who a power packed finish take it up at the last. Champ just had no answer to Paisley Park on the uphill run to the line as the latter stayed on well win by 3 ¼ lengths.

I remain unconvinced that Paisley Park can win another Stayers Hurdle. However, I wouldn’t rule out Champ as I think Saturday's dead ground blunted his speed. The 10-year-old + statistic in the Championship races at the festival is a bit off putting though. Since 2012 horses aged 10+ are 2 winners from 89 runners in the Championship races and you must go back to 2017 and Special Tiara’s win in the Queen Mother Champion Chase for that age group.

It was great to see Paisley Park back to winning ways on a track that really suits. In the process he further opened the Stayers Hurdle betting. Just two days after Klassical Dream’s disappointing performance in the Galmoy Hurdle at Gowran Park.

Pied Piper

Gordon Elliott has the first two in the Triumph Hurdle betting. Fil Dor had headed the market prior to Saturday’s JCB Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle. However, he was displaced as favourite by his stablemate Pied Piper after the latter’s impressive success in the Triumph Trial.

Pied Piper was dropped into the rear by jockey Davy Russell. He travelled through the race beautifully and jumped fluently. Before cruising past his rival between the final two hurdles. Leading at the last he went clear of his rivals on the run in for a hard held 9 length success.

Now 2-2 over hurdles and twice a winner on the flat when trained by the Gosden’s. He will take some beating at the festival and his win was the most impressive of Trials Day. However, let’s not forget the horse he beat by ¾ length on his previous start Vauban. 

Vauban was all the rage in the betting at Punchestown on his hurdle debut and is another who remains capable of plenty improvement over hurdles and is third favourite in the Triumph Hurdle. We’ll hopefully know more about his claims after next weekend’s Dublin Racing Festival.

Monday Racing

Three jumps fixture’s this afternoon at Hereford, Plumpton and Punchestown. Plus, there’s a teatime all-weather card at Wolverhampton.

It’s a case of yet another moderate Monday and field sizes this side of the Irish Sea aren’t great either. For example; Hereford’s seven races have attracted just 45 runners.  Wolverhampton fares even worse on the numbers front with just 44 declared for its seven races. Compare that with Punchestown who’s seven races have attracted no less than 114 runners.

Another profitable weekend for myself and Victor Value subscribers to end the month with an excellent profit. Which means of course I have probably already used up my quota of winners for the week. However, I really like one at Plumpton this afternoon.

Plumpton

3:10 – Minella Buster comfortably won a maiden hurdle here over 2m 4 ½ f here last month. Step up to 3m 1f asks another question of the 6-year-old but he remains capable of better on his handicap hurdle debut.

No stamina concerns with Sirobbie who is now 3lb below his last winning mark and must be respected on the best of last season’s form with the cheekpieces back on after they were left off last time.

Another runner who had dropped below his last winning mark is the Bard Of Brittany. The 8-year-old improved nicely for facing a sounder surface last season winning three times between March & May. He’s now 5lb below his last winning mark and hasn’t been running too badly on his last two starts. Back up to 3m last time when a rallying 9 ½ length 5th of 11 at Taunton 32-days ago. He's yet to win beyond 2m 4f but he shaped last time like stays further, especially at track that suits him (2 wins and a second from 4 starts at Plumpton). Bard Of Brittany is a general 7/1 and if you can get on Sky Bet are offering four places.

Monday Selection:

Plumpton

3:10 – Bard Of Brittany – 7/1 – Gen.

Good luck with your Monday bets.

John