John Ingles provides the Timeform ratings reaction to Saturday’s meeting at Cheltenham.
The most anticipated event on Saturday’s card, the Unibet-sponsored International Hurdle featuring a clash between the leading Champion Hurdle contenders Sir Gino and The New Lion, turned out to be nothing like so informative as anticipated. In what was just the latest in a series of dramatic top two-mile hurdles in the last twelve months, sadly Sir Gino went wrong on landing three out and was pulled up having suffered a fractured pelvis, and while that obviously rules him out of anything this season, his longer-term prospects do seem a little brighter. Previously unbeaten, Sir Gino had only just returned from a serious infection to win the Christmas Hurdle.
That left The New Lion (remains 161p) to record a hollow victory, not having to run anywhere near his best to account for inferior rivals Nemean Lion and Brentford Hope in a race that developed into a dash over the last couple of furlongs. He’s now second favourite for the Champion Hurdle behind Lossiemouth who runs in next weekend’s Irish Champion Hurdle. In the absence of State Man and now Sir Gino and doubts about Constitution Hill, Lossiemouth surely has no excuses not to line up in the Champion Hurdle this time rather than the Mares’ Hurdle which she has won for the last two seasons.
The Cotswold Chase was also a steadily-run four-runner affair with Spillane’s Tower (166 from 155+) back over fences after a couple of runs over hurdles and showing he retains the ability which had seen him finish second to Fact To File in last season’s John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase. In receipt of 6 lb, he got the better of last year’s Cotswold Chase winner L’Homme Presse (164 from 162) by three quarters of a length, while Betfair Chase winner Grey Dawning (remains 166) was still in with a chance until a mistake two out ended his hopes. Spillane’s Tower may have more to offer, though the slight concern regarding the Gold Cup is that he was found out by a well-run race in last season’s King George.
The Cleeve Hurdle was at least run at a truer gallop than either of the above-named races, and in a contest which Emma Lavelle had won three times previously with Paisley Park, the same stable’s progressive seven-year-old Ma Shantou (151p from 145) invited comparisons with the 2019 Stayers’ Hurdle winner. Although receiving 6 lb from favourite and Long Walk Hurdle winner Impose Toi (remains 156), Ma Shantou was still the better at the weights on the day as he won emphatically, pulling seven lengths clear through the final furlong. Unlike many in the staying division, Ma Shantou is still improving, and he clearly goes well at Cheltenham having also won a couple of handicaps there this season.
Another race to view positively with the Festival in mind was the Timeform Novices’ Handicap Chase which three times since 2020 has been won by a subsequent Festival winner. That could well be the case again this year as Jordans Cross (141p from 133p) improved again, conceding first run but finding plenty to get up late for a nose win over Quebecois (140p from 130) and shaping as though he’ll stay at least three miles given the chance. Anthony Honeyball saddled the fourth, Kdeux Saint Fray (130p from 128), as well as the winner, and he’s one worth following too, caught behind a weakening rival before finishing with running left.
Jagwar (155 from 152p) won last year’s Timeform Novices’ before following up at the Festival, and while he couldn’t quite win on this card for the second year running, he ran well in defeat in the Betfair Exchange Handicap Chase, going down by a head to Donnacha (138 from 132) who was in receipt of more than a stone from the runner-up and jumped the better. Improving slightly on his third place here in the December Gold Cup, Jagwar seems sure to go well at the Festival again, though a step up in trip might put less pressure on his jumping which wasn’t always fluent.
The Cross Country Handicap Chase was added to the card after being postponed from the November when the ground was too dry and it saw a very smart performance under 12-0 from Favori de Champdou (157 from 148) who had won the Paddy Power Chase at Leopardstown since his fall over this course in December. Seeming to excel himself at the age of eleven, he won with something in hand by eight and a half lengths, but will have to overcome another hike in the weights before the Festival if he’s to emulate connections’ recent cross-country winners Tiger Roll and Delta Work there.
The last three winners of the Triumph Trial – Sir Gino among them – had all been placed in the Triumph itself, and while Maestro Conti (132p from 127p) ran to a barely useful level – the first five finished in too much of a heap for a higher view – he did remarkably well to follow up his British debut success at Kempton considering he refused to settle in the first half of the race. However, he quickened to lead in the final hundred yards to beat One Horse Town (131 from 128), the winner of a similar event here in November, by two lengths in receipt of 2 lb. Unbeaten in three starts now, Maestro Conti is sure to progress and likely to be a main player in the Triumph Hurdle.
The concluding Grade 2 novice hurdle went ahead in controversial circumstances, the light very poor by the time it was run after a thirty-minute delay caused by the discovery of a hole on the track on the approach to the final flight. Overcoming the rise in class, there was plenty to like about the way Kripticjim (131p from 120p) completed his hat-trick, battling well for a short-head success over the previously unbeaten Taurus Bay (131p from 130p) who was stepping up in trip. Both are entitled to take up one of their Festival entries and are open to improvement, but each looks a chaser in the making in the long run.
Elsewhere, Irish raider Thedeviluno (138p from 129p) looked a fine prospect when winning a very strongly-run edition of the River Don Novices’ Hurdle at Doncaster, travelling powerfully under a patient ride and driven clear to win by five lengths once produced to lead before the last. He beat future Grade 1 winner Skylight Hustle over two miles on his hurdling debut but saw the three miles out here thoroughly and prices of up to 25/1 for the Albert Bartlett look too big.
The event in Ireland with the most significance for the Festival was the bumper at Naas on Sunday which Love Sign d’Aunou (112), successful in his only start in points last spring, won very easily in the heavy ground for Willie Mullins in the Ricci colours, making all the running to come home 24 lengths clear. He’s now the 7/1 favourite in most lists for the Champion Bumper, a race won two years earlier by stablemate Jasmin de Vaux who was himself a wide-margin winner of the same contest at Naas beforehand. Love Sign d’Aunou’s rating puts him alongside Oh My Word who made it two out of two in bumpers for Thomas Cleary when slamming three other previous winners in a listed event at Navan in December.