I doubt we found out anything new about Defi Du Seuil on his latest outing at Cheltenham in late January. However it cannot have done him any harm to enjoy a bit of match practise round the course that matters most in March. His...

On the opening day I have marked the Arkle Chase up as a race to avoid the favourite; assuming Altior takes his place in the line-up. No surprise there….. He is currently trading at a best priced 2/7 for the race and he will...

In the opening race of the festival the Willie Mullins trained Melon was promoted to favouritism after a wide margin victory in a maiden hurdle at Leopardstown at the end of January. My sectional time comparisons with both Lets Dance and Petit Mouchoir (who...

It was no surprise to hear Gordon Elliot nominate the Albert Bartlett rather than the Neptune as Death Duty’s likely festival target after his dour staying performance at Naas in early January. Whether he would have won that grade one contest if the mare,...

The first point to make about this grade one contest is that there are very few serious contenders for the shortlist. At the time of writing (Thursday 9th March 7am) as we take a look beyond the first four in the market we see...

The 2017 Ryanair Chase appears to be a very open contest between five or six main contenders. At this point in time Sizing John appears most likely to head for the Gold Cup despite having an awful lot in his favour for this two...

I suspect that there is more than a chance that a Colin Tizzard horse will play a part in the finish of the 2017 Cheltenham Gold Cup. After all, in Native River and Cue Card he currently houses two of the first three favourite...

The Champion Hurdle betting appears to have had more than its usual share of horses heading up the market in recent weeks. With the withdrawal of the Willie Mullins pair Faugheen and Annie Power this grade one contest may well be thought of as...