Good Evening ,
You know the Cheltenham Festival is approaching when the track stages Trial’s Day and Saturday’s fixture is the last one before the jumps meeting that matters most. The Cotswold Chase can be a major prep race for Cheltenham Gold Cup horses and it will be Frodon’s biggest test. The horse is too good for handicap company so the race will be informative in identifying Frodon’s potential to be competitive at the highest level. The regular rider is Bryony Frost and a lady has never ridden the winner of the Gold Cup but that could be the target after Saturday’s trial.
The Cleeve Hurdle over three miles is often a stepping stone to the stayers’ hurdle over the same distance at the Festival. The race brings together leading contenders for the stayers’ championship over recent years and horses who have shown enough form to suggest they could be the cream of the long distance hurdle crop. Paisley Park is in the latter category and will need to be at his best to pass this acid test in what could be a dress rehearsal for the big one in March. Unowhatimeanharry looks a big price to make the frame on past form and ratings.
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Frodon has never won over more than two miles and five furlongs and the Costswold Chase is a three miles and one and a half furlongs race. However, the Gold Cup trial is run over Cheltenham’s New Course where Frodon has won three times in five starts. Trainer Paul Nicholls is not sure whether his horse will stay but if Frodon doesn’t get the trip the Gold Cup can be ruled out and the Ryanair becomes the more likely target. Nicholls was leaning towards Frodon coping with the distance in the Racing Post this week:
“He’ll either stay or he won’t – it’s as simple as that. It’s a nice race to run him in and it’s on the New Course and he absolutely loves that. The improvement in him this season has been phenomenal and I don’t actually think the trip will be a problem. If you look at his races this season he’s done nothing but stay on strongly”
Frost takes the ride and baring injuries will be on the horse at Cheltenham. The Gold Cup is the most prestigious steeplechase in the world so it would be a wonderful achievement if a female rode the winner. Frost will get her chance if Frodon displays the stamina on Saturday to get in the field in March. The horse has the class and course experience to win the £100,000 feature on the day of Festival trials.
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There has been a change in the order in the staying hurdle division with the form shown by Paisley Park this season. The horse has won three times in three starts but the best effort was the most recent in the Grade 1 Long Walk Hurdle over three miles and half a furlong at Ascot. The horse could do no more than beat the opposition but there are some doubts about the value of the form. The race would not have looked out of place at the Festival but two horses did not complete the course. We will never know the outcome if Unowhatimeanharry has not fallen or Sam Spinner unseated the rider.
The former had never fallen in 27 hurdle races and he was prominent and going well but Sam Spinner never went a yard. On collateral form Unowhatimeanharry’s win in Newbury’s Long Distance Hurdle in December makes him as good as Paisley Park but the horse is double the price of the favourite for the Cleeve Hurdle. That level of variance cannot be ignored so Unowhatimeanharry is fancied to win the trial and become a leading contender for the championship race at the Festival in six weeks.
Enjoy Saturdays racing and be sure to check out our Dublin Festival Special and join the party in the Emerald Isle!
Best Wishes,
BetFan
