Cheltenham – Wednesday 13th April

Well Aintree has come and passed us by and with some brilliant storylines and some low moments for certain connections, we got out of the week with our shirt firmly intact and a bit of leftover pocket money for the road. You may have noticed that daily selections have been thin on the ground thus far this month, and that is due to the fact that I don’t want to force things. It is very hard to find bets at this time of the year, and with plenty of flat cards arriving on the scene, I have adopted a rather conservative brief. 

However, there is nothing quite like being lured in by a Cheltenham card, and I simply couldn’t resist having a few plays on the first day of this exciting two day fixture. Starting with the 2.05 race, which is the Silver Trophy Handicap Chase over the extended 2m4f trip, it sees Festival scorer Coole Cody coming back to the well to try and increase his already profitable Cheltenham record. However, I quite like the chances of the former winner of this race, Manofthemountain – who is coming to defend his crown after winning this race last year by four lengths. He hasn’t been quite the same horse this year, and after a good second at Chepstow, he has disappointed twice since. However, I have a feeling that he may have been waiting with this race in mind and he again encounters his optimum conditions for the first time this season. With this in mind, I am going to take the 5/1 on oiffer with SkyBet, who are offering 3 places in this 7 runner race, and back him each way. 

The following 2.40 race is another compelling race with plenty in with a chance in this 2m4f novices hurdle. I am going to keep things simple, as I like the chances of the favorite in this race – Pull Again Green, who was such an impressive scorer at Newbury at the start of this month. He beat a good yardstick on that occasion and he should be able to continue to improve based on his efforts thus far this season. He takes on Call of the Wild, who is a rapidly improving horse for Alan King, but may have to tighten up his jumping if he is going to take this step up in class in stride. Pull Again Green looked very professional last time out and looks like he is very versatile in terms of how he is ridden, but don’t be surprised to see this horse go forward. At a price of 7/4 with Paddy Power, I think that’s worth taking. 

I’m waiting till the 4.25 for my final selection of the day and this 3m handicap hurdle looks like one of the most competitive races on the card. I always fear the classy horse in a handicap around Cheltenham, and I am going to take a chance on Lisnagar Oscar in this field, who despite not having the most uplifting form figures going into this race, has still got a great chance in a field of this nature. When looking at his recent form, one must remember that he is mixing it with some of the best staying hurdlers around and overall, his best efforts have still come over this course and distance. He has now dropped down to a mark of 145, and he doesn’t face any graded horses in this line-up, and if getting into a good rhythm – he could be tempting enough to chance. At a price of 15/2 with Sky Bet, who are offering 4 places – he is another each way bet.