Cheltenham ´04
(day three - part two)

Analysis & Selections by

ðE` RØøK

Whether it be "the race of the day" or a small prize round the gaffs, we will attempt to use our knowledge of the formbook to highlight the fancied horses participating each day and their characteristics and requirements. Hopefully this ´second opinion´ provides you with a winner or two each day, or even reinforces your own view on a particular may even convince you to back some of those horses which we feel are the "ones to fear", or have decent each-way claims. whichever is the case, we hope the information is of use to you.

SELECTIONS - For each race, we have given you who, in our view, are the likeliest winners; (1er _ THE WINNER?), as well as any runners who could run well at each-way odds; (E/W ALTERNATIVE) . Any runner from our features are shown before each race 's analysis.

Up to the minute racing news.... 

Sports: horse racing news

Cheltenham ´04 Cheltenham _ New Course Thursday, 18 March ´04.

¦¨¨¨¨¨¨Seventeenth¨Race¨¨¨¨¨¨¦--: Christie´s Foxhunter steeple¨CH´. 3Miles~2f 110yds. £40,000 - for five-year-olds & upwards which since December 31, 2001, & before March 1, 2004, have been placed first or second on two occasions in a hunters’ steeple chase in Great Britain or Ireland or have won two Open steeple chases at Point-to-Point Meetings (i.e. Gentlemen´s, Ladies or Mixed Open Races) in Great Britain or Ireland or have won one Open steeple chase at a Point-to-Point Meeting in Great Britain or Ireland and have been placed first or second in a hunters’ steeple chase. Weights: 5-y-o 11st 4lb; 6-y-o & up 12st.; mares allowed 5lb. Entries closed March 3 (39 entries), entries revealed March 8, five-day confirmations March 13, declarations to run by 10.15am Wednesday, March 17, 2004.
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¦¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ONE¨Tº¨JUMP´º4¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¦ ¬ are there any horses from ONE Tº JUMP ´º4 - our feature which at the beginning of each season, sets out to provide a list of horses to follow during the current national hunt season? ¦ --: Oneminutetofive and Ease The Pressure
¦¨¨¨¨¨¨¨"ðE´RØøK"¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¦--:   The Foxhunters Chase is one of the oldest races at the Festival, first being run in 1904. It is the richest Hunter Chase of the season and is regularly used to gauge the best performer in this discipline each season. Thirty-nine horses have been entered for this year´s renewal. Here are, [in our view], the main contenders for this prize:

Arctic Times - trained by Eugene O’Sullivan

Ask The Natives - trained by Chloe Roddick

Bright Approach - trained by Ollie Bush

Castle Weir - trained by Willie Mullins

Charlie Strong - trained Richard Kelvin-Hughes

Country Derry - trained by Jeremy Scott

Earthmover - trained by Paul Nicholls

Ease The Pressure- trained by Richard Barber

Game Gunner - trained by Beverley Lewis

General Montcalm - trained by Edward O’Grady

Lord Atterbury - trained by David Pipe

Mrs. Be - trained by Ollie Bush

Never Compromise - trained by Ted Walsh

Oneminutetofive - trained by David Pipe

Polar Champ - trained by David Pipe

Red Brook Lad - trained by Charles Fox

Sea Haitch ´Em - trained by Vivian Hughes

Sheriff´s Friend - trained by Amanda Perrett

Spot Thedifference - trained by Edna Bolger

Torduff Express - trained by Paul Nicholls

Upham Lord - trained by Peter Beaumont

|¯¯¯¯¯¯¯SUMMARY¯¯¯¯¯¯¯| --: Arguably the second most difficult race to call at the time of writing as the leading candidates for the race, Ask The Native and Mister Benjamin will be absent due to injury whilst it isn't clear whether Lord Atterbury (who was so impressive towards the back end of last season) will take his chance as he is not pleasing connections currently at home. This potentially robs the race of any outstanding candidate which means that punters may have to fall back onto familiar friends like Earthmover, Torduff Express, Spot The Difference, County Derry and Bright Approach for their selections. Although he was very disappointing when pulling up on his most recent start at Folkestone last month, Bright Approach could be argued to be the form horse having finished second to Kingscliff twelve months ago. However, you would hope that there was something to break through into the big time here and with that in mind, were Lord Atterbury not to take his chance, I would be tempted to take a chance with his stablemate Oneminutetofive, already a winner three times this season, Sheriff's Friend (a multi-winning pointer who landed the John Corbett Cup at Stratford last season) or General Montcalm (a lightly-raced six-year-old in the care of Edward O'Grady who has already shown himself good enough to compete with the best of Irelands challengers, having split Never Compromise and Castle Weir at Thurles last month) . I'm not sure that these three have shown the form that would guarantee them victory, however they definitely possess the potential and as things stands, it may pay to go with that approach. Sheriff's Friend gets first preference.
|¯¯1ST¯PLACED?¯¯| ¬:Sheriffs Friend (e.W.) 
|¯2ª¯place?¯| ¬: General Montcalm (e.W.)
|¯3ª¯place?¯| ¬: Oneminutetofive (e.W.)
|¯4ª¯place?¯| ¬: Lord Atterbury 

¦¨¨¨¨¨¨Eighteenth¨Race¨¨¨¨¨¨¦--: The 132nd Year of the Cheltenham Grand Annual Handicap steeple¨CH´. [gr. III] 2Miles~110yds £75,000 - £75,000 total prize fund, two miles and about half a furlong, five-year-olds and upwards. Penalties: after February 28, a winner of a class C chase 3lb, of a class A or B chase, 6lb. Entries closed February 18 (62 entries), entries released February 23, weights released March 3, five-day confirmation stage March 13, final declaration stage 10.15am, March 16. 
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¦¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ONE¨Tº¨JUMP´º4¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¦ ¬ are there any horses from ONE Tº JUMP ´º4 - our feature which at the beginning of each season, sets out to provide a list of horses to follow during the current national hunt season? ¦ --: Isio (FR), Palarshán (FR), Bal De Nuit (FR), Le Duç (FR) and Çóbbet (CZE)
¦¨¨¨¨¨¨¨"ðE´RØøK"¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¦--:  The 132nd renewal of the Grand Annual has attracted sixty-two entries. It is the oldest race at the National Hunt Meeting, and the oldest in the chasing calendar, first being run at Andoversford, near Cheltenham, in 1834 over three miles of open country. As usual,  this is a wide open event, and after looking at the weights, here are the likeliest to figure from the sixty-two entries;   

Seebald (GER) 9yrs, - 11st~0lb

Farmer Jack 8yrs, - 11st~6lbs

Armaturk (FR) 7yrs, - 11st~5lbs

Turgeonev (FR) 9yrs, - 11st~5lbs

Palarshán (FR) 6yrs, - 11st~4lbs

Got One Too (FR) 7yrs, - 11st~3lbs

Risk Accessor 9yrs, - 11st~3lbs

Rathgar Beau 8yrs, - 11st~3lbs

Strong Run 11yrs, - 11st~2lbs

Puntal (FR) 8yrs, - 10st~13lbs

Young Devereaux 11yrs, - 10st~13lbs

Our Armageddon (NZ) 7yrs, - 10st~13lbs

Killultagh Storm 10yrs, - 10st~13lbs

Adamant Approach 10yrs, - 10st~12lbs

Exit Swinger (FR) 9yrs, - 10st~10lbs

Bal De Nuit (FR) 5yrs, - 10st~10lbs

True Blue Victory 8yrs, - 10st~9lbs

Shamawan 9yrs, - 10st~8lbs

Ei Ei 9yrs, - 10st~8lbs

Santenay (FR) 6yrs, - 10st~8lbs

Fadoudal De Cochet(FR)11yrs, - 10st~8lbs

Non So (FR) 6yrs, - 10st~8lbs

Atum Ire 7yrs, - 10st~6lbs

Ground Ball 7yrs, - 10st~5lbs

Keltic Bard 7yrs, - 10st~5lbs

Tango Royal (FR) 8yrs, - 10st~3lbs

Tysou (FR) 7yrs, - 10st~2lbs

Simply Gifted 9yrs, - 10st~1lb

Tidour (FR) 8yrs, - 10st~1lb

St~ Pirran 9yrs, - 10st~1lb

Korakor (FR) 10yrs, - 9st~9lbs

Çóbbet (CHR) 8yrs, - 9st~7lbs

Old Marsh 8yrs, - 9st~6lbs

Jahash 6yrs, - 9st~4lbs

Reiziger (FR) 8yrs, - 9st~4lbs

Ryders Storm (USA) 5yrs, - 9st~1lb

Alphazar 9yrs, - 9st~0lb 

|¯¯¯¯¯¯¯SUMMARY¯¯¯¯¯¯¯| --: Last season's winner Palarshán has been laid out by connections to win this and having run well last time behind Farmer Jack at Sandown in February, he looks poised for a big run again here. He does though have plenty of weight and is vulnerable to horses lower in the handicap such as Kelrev (who has appeared not to stay 2m5f in his last two starts), Colca Canyon (boasts useful form against Ireland's best novices), Le Duç (talented novice who's confidence has been restored after showing good form over hurdles recently) and Simply Gifted (formerly useful hurdler who won his first race after missing the last two seasons at Chepstow in January). All of these have other engagements however Colca Canyon probably would appeal most were he to line up here. Course and distance winner Çóbbet runs best fresh and could give followers a spirited run for their money if they were looking for something at a big price. 
|¯¯1ST¯PLACED?¯¯| ¬: Colca Canyon
|¯2ª¯place?¯| ¬: Palarshán
|¯3ª¯place?¯| ¬: Kelrev (FR)
|¯4ª¯place?¯| ¬: Le Duç (FR) 

¦¨¨¨¨¨¨Nineteenth¨Race¨¨¨¨¨¨¦--: Cathcart Challenge Cup steeple¨CH´. [gr. II] 2Miles~5f £80,000 - for five-year-olds and upwards which, before April 28, 2002, had not won a chase. Weights: 5-y-o: 10st. 9lb, 6-y-o and upwards: 11st: mares allowance 7lb. Penalties: a winner of a Class 0C chase 3lb, of a Class A or B chase 5lb or before April 27, 2003, a winner of a Class B weight-for-age chase 6lb, or before April 27, 2003, a winner of a Class A weight-for-age chase 9lb. Horses qualifying for more than one penalty will incur the higher penalty only. Entries closed March 3, 2004 (33 entries), entries released, Monday, March 8. Five-day confirmation stage Saturday, March 13, final declaration stage 10.15am, Wednesday, March 17. 
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¦¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ONE¨Tº¨JUMP´º4¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¦ ¬ are there any horses from ONE Tº JUMP ´º4 - our feature which at the beginning of each season, sets out to provide a list of horses to follow during the current national hunt season? ¦ --: Isio (FR), Le Coudray (FR), Le Duç (FR) and Patricksnineteenth.
¦¨¨¨¨¨¨¨"ðE´RØøK"¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¦--:  The penultimate race of the National Hunt Festival is the Cathcart Challenge Cup, named after Frederick Cathcart who was the clerk of the course at Cheltenham from 1908-1934. It is without doubt the hardest race to call at this stage because despite the small number of entries, the list invariably consists of horses specifically aimed at the race as well as others who for whatever reason have fallen by the wayside during the meeting. Thirty-three horses have been entered this year, and it´s quite possible you could list ten and yet still not find the winner. With that caveat "conveniently" put in place, these are the horses who at first glance make most appeal:

Barrow Drive - trained by Tony Mullins

Calling Brave - trained by Nicky Henderson

Don Fernando - trained by Martin Pipe

Hand Inn Hand - trained by Henry Daly

Hunters Tweed - trained by Peter Beaumont

Impek (FR) - trained by Henrietta Knight

Iris Royal (FR) - trained by Nicky Henderson

Irish Hussar - trained by Nicky Henderson

Isio (FR) - trained by Nicky Henderson

Kelrev (FR) - trained by Venetia Williams

L´Aventure (FR) - trained by Paul Nicholls

La Landiere (FR) - trained by Richard Phillips

Le Coudray (FR) - trained by Christy Roche

Le Duç (FR) - trained by Paul Nicholls

Our Armageddon (NZ) - trained by Richard 

Our Vic - trained by Martin Pipe

Patricksnineteenth - trained by Paul Webber

Puntal (FR) - trained by Martin Pipe

Star Clipper - trained by Noel Meade

Supreme Prince - trained by Phillips Hobbs

Therealbandit - trained by Martin Pipe

Whereareyounow - trained by Nigel Twiston-Davis

|¯¯¯¯¯¯¯SUMMARY¯¯¯¯¯¯¯| --: Thirty-three runners, most of whom are doubly or triply engaged at this meeting and no idea of what weight they'll carry. The perfect way to chose a winner at the festival!!! This race is impossible, however were either Therealbandit or Our Vic to sidestep other engagements to come here, they would be in my view very difficult to oppose. In their absence, Isio, Le Coudray and Patricksnineteenth would attract our attention. Allowing this race to structure itself may be the wisest betting strategy. 
|¯¯1ST¯PLACED?¯¯| ¬: Our Vic / Therealbandit
|¯2ª¯place?¯| ¬: Le Coudray (FR)
|¯3ª¯place?¯| ¬: Isio (FR)
|¯4ª¯place?¯| ¬:  Patricksnineteenth

¦¨¨¨¨¨¨Twentieth¨Race¨¨¨¨¨¨¦--: Vincent O´Brien County Handicap Hurdle [gr. III] 2Miles~1f £65,000 - £65,000 Total Prize Fund, Cheltenham, Thursday, March 18, 2004, two miles & about one furlong. For five-year-olds & upwards which, before February 15, have been placed first, second or third in a hurdle race. Penalties: after February 28, a winner of a hurdle race 4lb. Entries closed February 18 (64 entries), entries released February 23, weights revealed March 3. Five-day confirmation stage March 13, final declaration stage 10.15am, March 17. 
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¦¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ONE¨Tº¨JUMP´º4¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¦ ¬ are there any horses from ONE Tº JUMP ´º4 - our feature which at the beginning of each season, sets out to provide a list of horses to follow during the current national hunt season? ¦ --: Le Duç (FR), Dictum (GER), Harchibald (FR), Isio (FR), Kadount (FR), Desert Air (JPN), Mambo
¦¨¨¨¨¨¨¨"ðE´RØøK"¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¦--:   The final race of the 2004 Cheltenham Festival is the ultra-competitive County Hurdle, first run in 1920, and won by Trespasser, who until 1973 also had a race named after him at Cheltenham ´s premier meeting... The race bears the name of Vincent O’Brien, who retired from training in 1994, who won 25 races at the Festival, including four Gold Cups, three Champion Hurdles, 10 Supreme Novices’ Hurdles and a flurry of supporting races. It gives punters the final opportunity to add to their winnings or more often than not dig themselves out of the pit they´d dug for themselves over the past two days. There were sixty-four entries this year, and after the publication of the weights here are those we´ve singled out for consideration:

Sporazene 5yrs - 10st13lbs

In Contrast 8yrs - 10st12lbs

Limerick Boy (GER) 6yrs - 10st10lbs

Monkerhostin (FR) 7yrs - 10st9lbs

Mughas 5yrs - 10st6lbs

Perouse 6yrs - 10st5lbs

Copeland 9yrs - 10st4lbs

Benbyas 7yrs - 10st4lbs

Saintsaire (FR) 5yrs - 10st3lbs

Adamant Approach 10yrs - 10st2lbs

Brave Inca 6yrs - 10st1lb

Chauvinist 9yrs - 10st1lb

Albuhera 6yrs - 10st0lb

Native Scout 8yrs - 10st0lb

Le Passing (FR) 5yrs - 9st13lbs

Man O´Mystery (USA) 7yrs - 9st13lbs

Le Duç (FR) 5yrs - 9st12lbs

Unleash (USA) 5yrs - 9st11lbs

Never (FR) 7yrs - 9st11lbs

Bold Bishop 7yrs - 9st11lbs

Grave Doubts 8yrs - 9st11lbs

Sud Bleu (FR) 6yrs - 9st11lbs

Tik-A-Tai 9yrs - 9st11lbs

Dictum (GER) 6yrs - 9st10lbs

Spectroscope 5yrs - 9st8lbs

Contraband 6yrs - 9st8lbs

Gin Palace 6yrs - 9st7lbs

Lilium De Cotte (FR) 5yrs - 9st7lbs

Khetaam 6yrs - 9st7lbs

Arch Stanton 6yrs - 9st7lbs

Overstrand 5yrs - 9st7lbs

Demi Beau 6yrs - 9st7lbs

Stacumny Prince 6yrs - 9st6lbs

Fleet Street 5yrs - 9st6lbs

Green Belt Flyer 6yrs - 9st6lbs

Kadount (FR) 6yrs - 9st6lbs

Isio (FR) 8yrs - 9st6lbs

Rathgar Beau 8yrs - 9st6lbs

Bound 6yrs - 9st5lbs

Greenhope 6yrs - 9st5lbs

Altay 7yrs - 9st5lbs

Tango Royal (FR) 8yrs - 9st4lbs

Harchibald (FR) 5yrs - 9st3lbs

Downpour (USA) 6yrs - 9st3lbs

Newhall 6yrs - 9st3lbs

Idaho d´Ox (FR) 8yrs - 9st3lbs

Hawadeth 9yrs - 9st1lb

Feel The Pride 6yrs - 9st1lb

Macs Joy 5yrs - 9st0lb

Desert Air (JPN) 5yrs - 9st0lb

Bërnardon (GER) 8yrs - 8st13lbs

Kirat 6yrs - 8st13lbs

Another Dude 7yrs - 8st10lbs

Breknen Le Noir (FR) 6yrs - 8st10lbs

Petanque 8yrs - 8st10lbs

Shayadi 7yrs - 8st9lbs

The Last Cast 5yrs - 8st9lbs

Friedlhelmo (GER) 8yrs - 8st8lbs

Scorned (GER) 9yrs - 8st8lbs

Kilbeggan Lad 6yrs - 8st0lb

Supergood 6yrs - 7st11lbs

Liberman 6yrs - 7st11lbs

|¯¯¯¯¯¯¯SUMMARY¯¯¯¯¯¯¯| --: With so many runners being out of the handicap due to the presence of Rigmarole it is difficult to be clear about the structure of the weights. We do though know that there are a few trainers who clearly fancy their charges have good chances of picking up the big bonus for winning this race as well as the Imperial Cup the Saturday before this festival. For that reason alone, Saintsaire, Bold Bishop, Kadount, Desert Air and Never warrant closer inspection. Bold Bishop has looked really good in novice company this season and would be difficult to beat off of the minimum weight. However he hasn't experienced the competitive nature of handicaps and it would pay not to overlook this if you were considering lumping in heavily on him. A similar comment applies to Dictum who was very impressive at Ascot in January, however he didn't impress last time out at Newbury three weeks ago and probably needs cut in the ground to show his true worth. 

There is though one horse that has been overlooked, yet his trainer was very forthright about the high regard in which he held this horse, and that is Desert Air. This Japanese-bred son of Desert King hasn't run this season by Martin Pipe did indicate that he believed that this horse would strengthen up into a fair handicapper this season. If  that is the case, it may pay to look at his form of last season in closer detail as he was only just touched off by Hasty Prince, (declared for the Champion Hurdle) on his debut at Huntingdon in January 2003 before coming out 2 weeks later and beating Thesus (winner of the Ladbroke hurdle at Ascot this January) and Sud Bleu (at Ascot) . He hasn't run  since finishing third to Bareme at Kempton a year ago. However he would interest me if he crept into the weights here especially if he is ridden by a decent pilot. That said, by this time his cover may well have been blown and if you believe he is worth and investment, it may pay you to look at his performance in the Imperial Cup especially if the champion of Jamie Moore happen to be on board here. 
|¯¯1ST¯PLACED?¯¯| ¬: Desert Air (JPN)
|¯2ª¯place?¯| ¬: Dictum (GER), [e.W.]
|¯3ª¯place?¯| ¬: Harchibald (FR)
|¯4ª¯place?¯| ¬: Bold Bishop 

This page was last updated on Saturday March 13, 2004 at 11:37:31 PM

THE FEATURE MEETING

POSTING TIME
Selections for Monday - Friday should be available after 9:30pm the previous evening, however on Saturday and Sunday due to other commitments won´t be posted until after 8:30am those respective mornings unless otherwise stated. Hopefully this helps

DEDICATION

GEORGE E. ROBERTSON
1936 - 2003

FURLONG TO GO would like to convey our condolences to the rØøk, whose father; George Edward Robertson passed away on  16th April 2003. 

Mr. Robertson nurtured the rØøk´s enthusiasm for this sport, and it was this inspiration, which is probably behind the creation of this website. As a permanent tribute to his memory, all the meetings covered under the "feature Meeting" banner will be dedicated to him...

"Big George"