2015/16 Jumps Issue 19 - a shuffle of the table

Headlines

Vautour Flys To Ryan Air Victory

Limini Lands Mares Hurdle

Cossack earns his Spurs in Gold Cup

Bite Savages rivals at Kempton

Report

We start at Cheltenham last Thursday where in the 2m 5f Grade 1 Ryan Air Chase Vautour ( Bob, Cliff, Lee, Neil, Peej, Steve, Tony), Valseur Lido ( Lee, Peej), went to post, Vautour warm at start, travelled well, always close up, led after 13^th, quickend clear approaching 2 out, pushed along approaching last, always well in control, winning comfortably by 6l. He gets 26.8 points.

Valseur Lido mid division, headway after 13^th slightly out paced after 3 out, 4^th jumping last, stayed on well to snatch 2^nd close home, beaten 6l. He gets 12 points.

In the 2m mares hurdle Limini ( Lee), took her chance, athletic sort, tracked leaders, going well when switched left approaching last, and took slight lead, quickend clear run in , winning impressively by 4l 1/21 l she gets 53.4 points.

On Friday in  the 3m 2f Grade 1 Gold Cup Chase, Don Cossack (Cliff Martin, Peej, Tony, Djackadam ( Bob, Cod, Peej), took their chances,

Don Cossack, tarcked leaders upsides after 17^th, led after 3 out, shaken up after 2 out, stayed on well, and in command from last, pushed out, winning by 4 ½ l. He gets 56 points.

In the 3m 2f Foxhunters chase, On The Fringe ( Cod), went to post, midfield, headway approaching 4 out, ridden and staying on before 2 out, led last, kept on well run in, always doing enough, close home, winning by  a neck. He gets 34. 6 points.

On Saturday at Kempton in the 2m 5f handicap hurdle Might Bite ( Martin), went to post, held up well in touch, and always going well, tracked leaders after 7^th, led before 2 out, and soon clear, in command and mistake last, stayed on to win comfortably by 8l. He gets, 49.4 points.

The John Torpey Memorial Trophy

                      March       Total

Neil                   122.6                943.7

Cliff                   227.2              701.3

Lee                     279.2            690.5

Bob                   132.1              683.2

Tony                  227.2           669.1

Peej                   171               643.9

Cod                    207.4           529.6

Martin                225.8         513

Steve                  207              492.1

2015/16 Jumps Issue 18 - Action from the first two days of the Festival

Headlines

Gervey Chambertain lands Carlisle Hurdle

Clouds Over shadows rivals at Kelso

Douvan lands The Arkle

Annie Powers to Champion win

Vroom Vroom roars home in mares hurdle

Minnella Rocco’s Up

Sacre Sprints To Champion Chase Victory

Report

We start at Carlisle last Thursday where in the 3m 1f handicap hurdle, Gervey Chambertain (Neil), went to post, made all, shaken up and drew clear approaching 2 out, pushed out run in, eased close home, winning by 13l. He gets 31.6 points.

On Sunday at Kelso in the 2m 7f listed chase, Many Clouds (Cod), took his chance, jumped well, took keen hold, close up, led 4^th, made rest, shaken up, clear before 2 out, eased close home, winning easily by 10l. He gets 34.4 points.

At Cheltenham on Tuesday in the 2m Grade 1 Arkle novice chase, Douvan (Not Cod), Sizing John (Cliff )took their chances.

Douvan Prominent, led 3rd, clear when reached at last and mistake, stayed on well, winning comfortably by 7l. He gets  52.2 points

Sizing John Led until 3rd, tracked winner until before 3 out, unable to quicken when hampered and left 2nd 2 out, no impression, stayed on 2^nd 7l . He gets 24 points.

In the 3m 1f Handicap chase, Un Temps Pour Tout (Lee), took his chance, Always prominent, upsides 3 out, led last, ridden clear flat, stayed on well winning by 7l. He gets 77.6 points.

In The 2m Champion Hurdle Annie Power ( Cliff, Martin, Tony), My Tent Or Yours ( Cod, Martin), went to post.

Annie Power, Led 1st, made rest, clear before last, ran on strongly, winning by 4 ½ l. She gets 56.2 points.

My Tent or Yours Tracked leaders, went 2nd from 3rd, ridden and not pace of winner before last, just held on to 2^nd, he gets 12 points.

In the 2m 4f Grade 1 Mares Hurdle Vroum Vroum Mag (Cod), took her chance, Held up towards rear of mid-division, smooth headway on outside 4 out, switched inside next, challenged going well between last 2, led approaching last, ridden out flat, kept on well winning by 2 ¾ l. She gets 53.2 points.

 In the 4m novice chase Minella Rocco (Steve), went to post, In rear, last and reminder 8th, headway approaching 4 out, challenged after 3 out, led before last, edged right flat, stayed on well, winning by 1 ¼ l. He gets 66.8 points.

On Wednesday in the 2m 5f grade 1 Neptune Novice hurdle Yorkhill ( Bob, Lee), took his chance, Travelled well throughout, held up mid-division on inside, not fluent 4 out, not much room before next, tracked leaders before 2 out, led before last, ridden and edged right flat, kept on well, winning by 1 ¾ l. He gets 29.1 points.

In the 3m grade 1 RSA novice chase, Shaneshill (Tony), went to post, Not always fluent, held up in rear, headway after 3 out, challenged 2 out, led when jumped left and not fluent last, headed flat, edged right and held towards finish, finishing 2^nd ½ l He gets 24 points.

In the 2m Grade 1 Champion Chase Sprinter Sacre ( Cod, Steve), Un De Sceaux Bob, Cliff, Lee, Neil, Peej, Tony), went to post.

Sprinter Sacre Tracked leaders, close 3rd when not fluent 3 out, soon challenging, led before 2 out, clear when untidy last, about 6 lengths ahead flat, ridden out, winning by 3 ½ l. He gets 61.2 points.

Un De Sceaux,  , 2^nd 3 ½ l. He gets 12 points.

The John Torpey Memorial Trophy

                      March       Total

Neil                   95.8                916.9

Bob                   93.3                644.4

Cliff                   144.4              618.5

Peej                   64.2              537.1

Lee                     187              598.3

Tony                  144.4           586.3

Cod                    160.8           483

Steve                  180.2          465.3

Martin                120.4         407.6

2015/16 Jumps Issue 17 - Festival Preview

Day 1

Min is the first Mullions hot pot of the week, but I have been taken with Altior and Yorkhill if also taking his chance should run very well.

Punters Selection Altior e/w

In the Arkle Mullins Hot pot number 2, Douvan goes to post. He looks very solid but at 2/5 is no price and Sizing John and the unbeaten Garde La  Victoire are cracking e/w value at around 16/1

Punters Selection Sizing John e/w

In the champion hurdle Annie Power gets the 7lb mares allowance and I can’t really see any thing being 7lb beter than her , though this is a late change of plan and i don’t see her as totally bomb proof, Nicholls Canyon, The New One and My Tent or Yours should ensure a very good race.

Punter Selection,  The New One e/w.

In the Mares Hurdle Vroom Vroom Mag looks a very solid even money favourite.

Day 2

In the Neptune novice hurdle I have been very taken with Yanworth and find him impossible to oppose.

In the RSA Chase, I like No more Hero’s a lot and Seeyouatmidnight should run well at around 12/1.

Punter Selection No More Hero’s

In the Champion Chase Un De Sceaux at around 4/6 is plenty short enough, Sprinter Sacre was quite impressive at Kempton last time and I would side with him e/w at 9/2.

In the cross Country Chase, Baltahzar King returns and at 6/1 is a cracking bet.

Day 3

In the JLT Novice Chase Bristol De Mai has been impressive all season and looks good value at 3/1.

The Ryan Air looks very weak this year and at 5/1 Al Ferof looks a good value chance.

In the World Hurdle, I find it hard to oppose Thistlecrack. Cole Harden and Whisper can follow him home.

 The John Torpey Memorial Trophy

                      February       Total

Neil                   70.7              821.1

Bob                   57.4               551.1

Cliff                   38.8            474.1

Peej                   16.1             472.9

Tony                  11.1            441.9

Lee                     16.1              427.4

Cod                    51.7            322.2

Martin                27.2           287.3

Steve                  27.7          285.1

Congratulations to Neil who was trainer of the month

2015/16 Jumps Issue 16 - No winners but a look at the Festival prospects

The John Torpey Memorial Trophy

                      February       Total

Neil                   70.7              821.1

Bob                   57.4               551.1

Cliff                   38.8            474.1

Peej                   16.1             472.9

Tony                  11.1            441.9

Lee                     16.1              427.4

Cod                    51.7            322.2

Martin                27.2           287.3

Steve                  27.7          285.1

Congratulations to Neil who was trainer of the month

News

Leading amateur jockey Derek O'Connor has switched allegiances from Native River to Minella Rocco in the National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival

The Punter has exclusive news from the Nigel Twiston- Davies and Paul Nicholls yards on their Cheltenham prospects

Saphir Du Rheu

He was second in last year's World Hurdle and then he went chasing, winning the Grade One at Aintree in the spring. The idea was that he'd go chasing this season and he won well at Carlisle earlier in the year. Ran OK in the Hennessy looking back at it now, with 11st 12lb on ground was that quite testing. He travelled quite well to two out but didn't really finish it off and clearly ran no race at all over Christmas in the Long Walk Hurdle, fading from the back of the second-last. I was always a little suspicious of his breathing so straight after Ascot we gave him a little breathing operation and he's in good form. That's helped him out and although he's a big horse who should handle soft ground I've always thought his very best form, at Cheltenham and Aintree last term, is on decent ground. So I think on better ground we'll see him in a completely different light. He's a high-class horse and has come together really well. He's been working well with Aux Ptit Soins for the past six weeks or so and has had a racecourse gallop. He'll have another one next week and I'm very, very pleased with him. All through the autumn, and even in the Hennessy, I thought he still looked a little bit fat and we were struggling to get the weight off him. But he's looking really well now and I'm happy with his progress. I maintain that he and the horse that won last year (Cole Harden) are both big players. He'll ultimately go back chasing next year but I think we're doing the right thing going back hurdling with him for now.

Aux Ptit Soins

He won the Coral Cup last year and is unbeaten over hurdles. It's been hard to train him this time as he came back from John's (Hales) with an infection in his foot and then we had a sinus problem with him. He had two lots of surgery on a tooth which was causing him that problem and also some surgery on his sinus just to clear that up. He had a month on the water treadmill back at John's and came to us in January 1. We've been able to get stuck into him with work since then and he's had a racecourse gallop with Saphir Du Rheu. He'll have another trip away and then he'll run in the World Hurdle. It would have been nice to get a run into him but I have to say he's coming together nicely and working very well. He's very talented but it's a big ask after the problems he's had. He'll have a couple of runs this spring, probably at Aintree after Cheltenham, then he'll come back novice chasing in the autumn. It'll be nice to have another summer on his back and hopefully have a clear run with him now.

Dodging Bullets

It's been a nightmare with him due to being off for most of the season with a splint problem. He had his first run of the season just the other day and was well beaten into second but if you look at it he was beaten on his first run back last season and obviously went on to win last year's Champion Chase. He is a very good work horse at home so it's easy to think he's at a slightly better stage than he is (in terms of fitness). He's come back from having a long time off, but probably just got tired on the ground at Newbury as he travelled really well so possibly just needed the run a bit more than we thought. Initially I was very disappointed but coming back from what he's had you have to give them a bit of time. He's improved a lot for that and he likes Cheltenham and better ground. I won't pretend he's not got a mountain to climb to beat the favourite Un De Sceaux, who looks very good but behind him the rest look much of a muchness. I'm hopeful of a much improved run at Cheltenham on some better ground. Having said that, he was going into the race last year off the back of winning the Tingle Creek and the Clarence House Chase so it's a bit different now. If Un De Sceaux jumps around then he's going to be very hard to beat but it's a competitive race and they go a right gallop around there in the Champion so the favourite will have to jump well.

Le Mercurey

He's in the RSA Chase as well as the big three-mile handicap chase on the first day at the Festival. He went up 7lb for finishing third at Ascot in the Reynoldstown, which gives him a mark of 147. Probably ran a career best at the weekend, giving 7lb to the first two home. He looked like winning but just propped going into the last and went on to finish third. Before that he ran at Doncaster in the Sky Bet Chase and it was basically all over after just three fences. He just didn't get going at all. He's possibly going to be better in a smaller field, rather than a big-field 20 runner handicap. We put cheekpieces on him at Ascot, that just helped him concentrate and he ran a really good race. I suspect if we end up running him at Cheltenham at all it will be in the RSA Chase and hope for a bit of soft ground as that's what he really loves.

The New One

He schooled this morning, he was fabulous - really exciting. The Champion Hurdle is obviously easier than we first thought and I think he's value at the sort of price he is. The problem last year was that he had bad feet so that involved him swimming a lot - the whole time - and that affected his back but now he's not swimming he's 100 per cent. The foot problem came back before Christmas so we had a very rushed preparation to get him ready for the Christmas Hurdle and he ran well there and since then he's been absolutely fine. I'm looking forward to the big day.

Bristol De Mai

He's done absolutely nothing wrong at all, he really hasn't. Two and a half miles has been a revelation for him and his jumping is as good as you'll find so he's very exciting. We were absolutely gutted after the Scilly Isles at Sandown, we thought it was a disaster because we got beaten but Ar Mad has turned out to be a really, really good horse. The reason he looks good on heavy ground over two miles is that it makes it more of a stamina test but now over two and a half miles the stamina test is the distance rather than the ground.

Vibrato Valtat

He's had a good season, he won the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter and has been running some solid races, in the Tingle Creek and the Clarence House at Ascot. Two miles is probably just sharp enough for him against the best as he's always flat out. I've always wanted to try him out over a trip and he's going to run in the Ryanair Chase this year. That'll be a more suitable race for him and he's a good horse when fresh. He carries plenty of condition but we'll get plenty of hard graft into him before then. He's been really progressive and it's not been easy for him but he'll run another solid race.

Southfield Theatre

He could run a big race in the Ultima if we can get him back to form. He was second in the RSA last year and some better ground will suit him.